Daiki's Basketball
by CeruleanShockwave
Summary: Tetsu had changed. Tetsu was no longer his partner. But Daiki saw that same spark in Kagami, and even if he wasn't one for sappy romantic stuff like Tetsu, maybe this time… maybe this time the light he picked would stay with him. (or, the AU that no one asked for, in which Aomine is the shadow and Kuroko is the light) Rated T for slight language.
1. Light at the End of the Tunnel

**Hey, my wonderful readers, if you have a Wattpad account, please don't skip the AN at the end! And if you don't, go make one and then come back and read the AN! (XD)**

* * *

 **Chapter One – Light at the End of the Tunnel**

"Basketball club! Join the basketball club!" Shun shouted. Koganei smiled at him, all cat-mouthed, and said, "Louder, Itzuki!"

Shun cupped his hands around his mouth and drew a deep in-breath, readying himself to scream when he was interrupted by a low, gruff voice saying, "Where can I join the basketball team?"

He looked up to see a tall boy with coffee-coloured skin scowling down at him. The boy had dark hair blue as twilight and eyes of a similar colour. Shun blinked – it was already unusual for a Japanese to have naturally dark skin, but this boy's hair and eye colour was even rarer. Shun wondered for a moment if he had dyed it, but his sharp eyes quickly picked out the natural dark blue roots and lack of tell-tale shadow around the irises, which indicated the use of contact lenses.

"Just take a right and it's the fourth stall on your left."

"Thanks," said the boy gruffly and went off, presumably to go annoy the hell out of Hyūga (not on purpose, of course, but Shun knew his type of attitude was what set Hyūga off like nothing else). Shun couldn't help staring after him for a second.

'That build! And his colouring – this guy sticks out like a flashing red beacon. With his size and seeming power, I'm guessing he'll be a huge asset on-court. We could really use that,' he thought.

* * *

Junpei smiled as Riko clapped her hands in delight and exclaimed, "That guy seems really something! I hope he's as good as he looks!"

"You do realise how that sounded," he put in smugly.

Riko coloured. "Hyūga!" she screeched madly.

Junpei laughed once, then became serious. "Hey, Coach, you know this is the year we _have_ to do it, right? For his sake, and for ours, I really hope that that Taiga Kagami turns out to be what you think he is."

Riko nodded, composed too. "Of course, Hyūga." she said.

Just then, a tall, dark boy walked up to them. He had dark blue hair and eyes, and Hyūga raised his eyebrows – he seemed just like Kagami but for the fact that his colouring was the polar opposite of the other's.

"I'd like to sign up for the basketball club. Are you the captain and manager? Where's your coach?" he said bluntly.

Riko laughed a high, false laugh; Junpei could feel her irritation, having known her so long. (Also, the tic mark on her temple _may_ have been a dead giveaway. Sue Junpei, but he was no mind-reader.) "Yes and no," she said. "Here's a form. He's Junpei Hyūga, the boys' basketball team's captain. And I'm Riko Aida, the coach. We don't have a manager."

" _You're_ the coach? Oh, I can just imagine what Satsuki would say. Probably something about your cup size." said the boy with an amused smirk on his face. "Anyway, here."

Junpei gaped. How openly disrespectful! He himself was struggling to keep sitting down. He could only imagine what Riko was feeling.

The boy – Damn Annoying, Junpei nicknamed him – filled the form in quickly, then gave it to Junpei and left without another word.

"That brat has an attitude on him," said Riko in a rage. "Who's this Satsuki guy anyway?!"

"Satsuki is a girl name, Coach," sighed Junpei, and began to read the form.

 _Daiki Aomine_

 _Teiko Junior High_

Junpei felt his eyebrows go up.

"Coach, look at this," he said, showing her the form.

Riko's eyebrows shot up too.

"Whoa, Teiko?!" she said excitedly. "Do you think-"

"With his build? Maybe," Junpei answered grimly. "He's probably a member of that Generation of Miracles. And that arrogance is characteristic of them all, isn't it? But I never heard of him before."

"Daiki Aomine," Riko said thoughtfully. "Hey, his hair colour matches with his name. Blue hair, name with 'blue' in it!"

Junpei shot up in his seat suddenly, a thought entering his head.

 _Daiki Aomine… Damn Annoying… They both start with the same letters! For once, I really wish Izuki were here to make a pun about this. That Aomine kid deserves it for disrespecting a woman!_

"What is it, Hyūga?" asked Riko.

"Nothing," he said, waving her off. "Nothing at all."

* * *

Taiga was just minding his own damn business when this stupid stranger boy with weird blueberry hair decided to bump rudely into him and had the nerve to pick a fight.

"You look like you were dropped on your head way too many times when you were a baby! That or the nurse didn't clean your head up right after you were born!" the stranger laughed rudely, a smirk on his face.

Taiga went red in embarrassment and fury. "Yeah, well, sh – shut up, you – you stupid blueberry idiot!" he shouted back, blustering.

He heard a snicker off to the side. A boy who had been yelling for new students to join the basketball club stood there, a smirk on his cat-shaped mouth.

"Blueberry…" he giggled.

Taiga felt his cheeks go even warmer.

"Hmm," spoke up a playboy-looking pretty boy from next to the cat kid, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "What does a rock-star blueberry make for? Blueberry jam!"

"Shut up, Izuki!" shouted the glasses boy – the captain, if Taiga remembered right – at the pretty kid, who pouted but closed his mouth.

Taiga huffed, turned on his heel and stormed off. There was no use in fighting idiots, even if he really did want to punch that jerk. He'd just earn himself a bad reputation on his first day.

* * *

Daiki flushed in shame as Satsuki yelled loudly at him. He was standing outside the lunch hall, talking to her.

"How could you say that to someone, Dai?!" she shouted. "You've got to say sorry!"

"I will, Satsuki," he said apologetically. Now that he thought about it, she was right. That hadn't been very nice of him. And if he was going to sign up for the team, and if she was the coach, he would probably be royally screwed.

He decided to write an apology letter to the coach girl – Rikki Adair? Riko Aida, he thought – in the English period instead of sleeping like he usually did, and felt quite proud of himself. He was doing something nice, for once.

Daiki felt a pang in his heart as he thought of what Tetsu would say.

"You should use a dictionary, otherwise you might make way too many spelling mistakes." Tetsu would say flatly.

And then, "I can help you, if you'd like."

And Daiki would gladly accept the help, happily taking the popsicle he would inevitably be offered and munch away as they sat together, Daiki writing the letter in his reasonably decent calligraphy since Tetsu's handwriting was surprisingly chicken-scratch-y, and being given advice on what words to use.

Ah, how he wished – but no. Daiki pushed the thought away even as it blossomed in his head. He had come to Seirin to show _them_ what teamwork, what hard work like he had had to put in really meant, and that was what he would do.

Daiki squared his shoulders and walked back into the building, grabbing his campus map and walking towards his English class, where he promptly found a seat by the back window and began to scratch out a hasty apology letter (with a boatload of strikeouts and spelling errors, I might add), then fell asleep.

* * *

Taiga walked quickly into the gym, excited for basketball try-outs. That coach must be something else – a high-schooler and a girl no less! Not that he was sexist or anything (as if he would be allowed to be) but girls in Japan as far as he knew were all tittering idiots, not like the ones back in America, where at least a few had a lick of sense. He hoped Coach Aida was one of those no-nonsense coaches who gave out excellent training regimens.

His daydream was rudely interrupted when he saw a familiar face, though.

The dark blueberry-headed boy who had picked a fight with him earlier stood there, wearing a _very_ bored expression on his face.

At least until he saw Taiga, that is. An amused expression flitted across his face, quickly replaced by one of annoyance when Taiga glared hard at him.

"You!" both boys yelled, pointing at each other.

* * *

The kid was holding a white paper in his hand and looking very pleased with himself.

(As usual, Taiga's mind added – the boy had seemed smug from the minute he had bumped into him.)

"Ah? Me what? Oh, it's the red kid," the blueberry said with a wide smirk. "The name's Aomine. Daiki Aomine. Don't forget it."

"Red kid?!" Taiga repeated in fury. "Taiga Kagami, better remember that!"

"Tiger Ka Gum Me?" said Aomine in a mocking accent, chuckling rudely. Taiga wanted to hit him.

"Oh, he would love that." Aomine laughed. Strangely, his dark cheeks immediately coloured, as if remembering a bad memory, and his eyes flashed wide as if he were having a panic attack before coming back to normal.

"I mean, that is a strange name." he amended hastily.

Taiga coloured. "Aomine isn't all that common, either," he retorted. "And Daiki – basically big radiance, your skin colour doesn't show that very well,"

He winced inwardly. That had been uncalled for.

Aomine looked a little taken aback.

"Wow, you've got some mouth on you," he snapped back angrily. "Well, at least I'm not actually called Tiger and look like a zoo one too,"

Taiga sensed real heat in Aomine's words this time; he supposed he deserved it for making a racist comment, but Taiga still felt angry at his name being constantly insulted. It was something he really cherished, his deceased mother having chosen it lovingly.

Taiga felt himself surge forward and grab Aomine by the collar of his shirt. "Why, you little-"

"That's enough!" shouted a loud voice. The captain of the team stood glaring at both boys, light glinting ominously off his glasses. The pretty boy walked up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Junpei, you're scaring them," he muttered, but Taiga's sharp ears caught it.

"And they deserve to be," replied the captain, loud enough for both Aomine and Taiga to hear. "Let it be, Shun."

Pretty Boy stepped back, eyebrows raised with an amused smirk on his lips.

The coach walked forward, placing a hand on both Taiga's and Aomine's chests and pushing them apart. "This is no place to fight," she told them matter-of-factly. "If you want to brawl like some kind of uncivilised ruffians, door's all yours."

Aomine glared at Taiga, but backed down.

Taiga turned away, tch-ing quietly.

This was not going to be fun, he could tell. Especially if that Aomine was as talented as he looked.

* * *

 **Hey, everyone! This is a project I've been working on for about a week now! I actually have two chapters pre-written and working on the third, and I even know where this is going (unlike Devil's Children - I have lots of ideas but no idea what the plot even is XD), and it's surprising because I'm usually a pantser.** **I searched for this idea of shadow!Aomine and light!Kuroko, but never found one. So I thought 'why not do it myself'?**

 **And yes, I began with Izuki because he is one of my favourites in KNB. He gets too little love *sigh*. Maybe my next KNB fic will be about him. (but I already have a Midorima-centric angstfic lined up, so...) Review with your favourite character!**

 **Anyway, if you guys are interested, I am entering NaNoWriMo this year and am writing a novel called 'infinity plus one'. I'll start posting to Wattpad from November 1 with daily updates till November 30. I even have a sequel planned! (yay!) So if you have Wattpad (and if you don't, go create one XD), head on over and give me a quick follow ( user/IntangibleFreedom) if you're interested in reading, and even if you aren't do follow XD, I'm kidding, though the support would be much appreciated!**

 **Also this is turning into a self-promotion session, and I say XD too much, so I'm gonna stop here... updates will be every Sunday, and bimonthly at the worst!**

 **Do review, favourite and follow if you liked the beginning!**

 **Love,**

 **Asuna**


	2. He'll Push You Even Higher

**Chapter Two – He'll Push You Even Higher**

Daiki felt his cheeks go warm as he went up to the coach. The other boys were talking amongst themselves save for Kagami, who stood off to the side, seemingly deep in thought. That was good, he wouldn't be noticed.

"I, uh, I'm sorry, about that comment earlier," he mumbled, shoving the letter at her and looking away. "That was very uncalled for and, um, yeah,"

Riko gave him a once-over, eyebrows raised. Then her face cracked into a dangerous smile.

"Good for you," she said sweetly, taking the letter. Daiki felt chills run up his spine – honestly, this woman was scarier than Satsuki.

He gulped and slipped back to the rows of boys, who were still talking. Daiki inwardly scoffed – were they old ladies who'd come here to knit over some tea?

"Hey, is she the manager, you think?" one boy said to Daiki seemingly conspiratorially. "She's pretty cute."

Daiki ignored him.

Across from the boys, the captain of the team seemed to have heard the comment.

"Oh, she's no manager!" he shouted, rather brusquely. "She's the coach and she isn't going to have a single second of your sorry asses chasing after her – she'll be too busy whipping them into shape!"

Pretty Boy from earlier stepped forward, lightly touching the captain. "Hey, Hyūga, you're being a little harsh there. This happened last year too, remember?"

Hyūga rolled his eyes, saying, "Yeah, but don't remind me." He backed down anyway, though.

Taking on a bored expression, Daiki shifted into a crossed-armed, slouched-shouldered stance and allowed his thoughts to seep across his brain.

 _Hey, Tetsu. What would you think of this? I got into a fight on the very first day and managed to insult the coach. You'd be so mad, you would just blank me like you did till I came begging for forgiveness with your favourite popsicle –_

Daiki's lips thinned.

 _Stop,_ he scolded himself. _Tetsu may have deserved those apologies then, but now…_

"All right, boys," called Coach Riko, her voice slicing through his daydreams. "Take off your shirts!"

Daiki did a double take. "What the-" he murmured under his breath. He looked around at the other boys, who had similar expressions of bewilderment on their faces.

"What is she saying?"

"Seriously?"

"Is she for real?"

"Just do it," interjected Pretty Boy. "Coach Riko does the things she does for specific reasons."

He received a harsh glare and a "Izuki, do you _want_ extra training?" from her for that.

"Sorry for defending you," Izuki huffed, before quieting down again.

The crowd that had amassed for try-outs gave each other tentative, nervous glances before slowly stripping, Daiki being one of the first to do so under the (purely mental) reasoning that it was something similar to Satsuki's Data Scan thingy where she just looked at you and could collect tons of data and stuff.

Riko looked over each and every one of them, stopping in shock when she came to Kagami. Daiki couldn't blame her; the guy was a monster.

She selected a few, told the rest to leave, and began calling attendance of the boys she had selected.

"Taiga Kagami!"

"Here,"

"Kōki Furihata!"

"Yes!"

"Hiroshi Fukuda!"

"Here!"

"Kōichi Kawahara!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"…Daiki Aomine!"

Daiki's head shot up. "Yeah, I'm here," he said lazily.

" _Daiki Aomine!_ " Riko shouted again.

Daiki mentally face-palmed as he realised what had happened. How could he have forgotten?

He walked up, right in front of her, and said loudly, "Sorry about that. It's something natural. I've been here the whole time."

"How can I prove you aren't late?" she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Look at the letter in your hand, Coach," he answered. "You remember getting that before practice, right?"

She looked at it, brows furrowed. "What – I can't read this!"

"Name's at the bottom," Daiki pointed out. "See, Daiki Aomine."

Riko nodded with a small frown that indicated she still didn't believe him fully. "Well, you sure seem like a member of the Generation," she murmured, half to herself. "But your stats are so…"

"Please, don't," Daiki muttered, equally to himself. "I've heard that enough times."

"What was that?"

"Uh, nothing," Daiki answered quickly and walked back to his place in line.

God, he didn't want to dig up his whole Teikō life in this new school. It could stay buried. He needn't reveal anything, just say he really wanted to win the tournament.

* * *

"All right," announced Hyūga. "You idiots are going up against us in a practice match. If you win, we'll let you on the team. If you lose…" He smiled darkly and cracked his knuckles. Beside him, Izuki looked equally menacing, grey eyes steely and focused, face set in a confident glare. The other three second-years – Tobime, Kogena and Tsuiha, if Taiga remembered right – also seemed fearsome, sending intimidating looks towards the five first-years.

"I'll introduce names with positions to make it a little easier on you," continued Hyūga, "I'm Junpei Hyūga, shooting guard. The idiot who won't stop making stupid puns," he jerked to Izuki, "is Shun Izuki, our point guard."

"Damn right I guard your points, with precious jealousy too," Izuki muttered, smirking.

Taiga's eyes widened. That was…

Hyūga flushed very red and punched Izuki in the shoulder, the others snickering, especially Riko. "Ignore him. The cat-mouth is Shinji Koganei, small forward. The strong silent guy is Rinnosuke Mitobe, center. And the last one is Satoshi Tsuchida, power forward."

So Taiga _hadn't_ gotten them right after all. Damn it.

"I don't know whether to be happy you didn't make up a weird description for me or be offended you called me 'the last one'," chimed in Tsukishima – _no, Tsuchida, god damn it_ , Taiga had to stop being so bad with names!

Hyūga rolled his eyes. "Coach, care to be the referee?"

"If it means I get to blow my whistle," she answered with a smirk. "Sure, why not?"

God, this woman seemed evil. Taiga shuddered a little.

"All right, start!"

* * *

Daiki glanced over at Kagami as he aggressively dunked the ball into the basket with a yell of ' _yosh_!' He wasn't sure whether that was supposed to be 'yes', 'yeah', or 'gosh'.

But the guy was as good – no, _better_ than Daiki had anticipated. He ran on pure talent, and he hadn't even scratched the surface. Maybe he really _was_ the person who could beat the Generation of Miracle.

"Wow, you're not bad," he commented, running alongside Kagami.

Kagami looked at him and then did a double-take.

"Wha – when'd you get here?!" he spluttered.

"I've been here the whole time," Daiki sighed. "Anyway, I said you weren't bad."

"Thanks," Kagami muttered. Then, "You suck, by the way,"

"And how do you know that?" demanded Daiki, a little incensed. "You haven't seen me at all."

"Exactly. I saw you mess up a shot once and that was it. Thus, the reasoning that you suck."

Daiki could not argue with that, though it made him a bit angry.

"You haven't seen anything yet," he chose to mutter, and jogged off.

Riko stared, her eyes popping out of her head.

"That Kagami guy is really something, huh," she murmured. "But that boy Aomine – he hasn't done anything – I haven't even seen him on court!"

Daiki shoved past the small boy who held the ball, Furihata, and told him, "Pass it to me."

"B – but you missed that shot-" Furihata stammered.

"Just pass it, my God, I'm not going to even try and shoot, I know I'm horrible at it," Daiki said with a roll of his eyes.

"O – okay," Furihata said nervously, dribbling.

Daiki positioned himself, looking to his left to see Kagami near the hoop already.

"Now, Furihata," he whispered to himself. "Quick,"

As if on cue, the ball came flying in his direction and Daiki prepared to slap it Kagami's way. _Hard_. That'd teach him to mess with Daiki.

"Where are you passing-" Fukuda was cut off by the ball suddenly changing direction.

"Huh?!" the second-years and the first-years stared as the ball, all of a sudden, spun towards Kagami from nowhere.

No – not nowhere. Daiki felt all eyes land on him for a split second. He turned to see Izuki, eyes glowing silver, looking at him intensely with his jaw dropped.

The red-haired boy looked surprised as to where in all hell the ball had come from, but took advantage of the others' surprise and dunked it nevertheless, overcoming his shock in half a millisecond.

 _Good reaction time too. That's perfect. Almost as good as Tetsu._ Daiki thought, smiling in satisfaction.

Just on cue, Coach Riko blew the whistle, an odd smile on her face, signalling halftime.

* * *

Riko almost dropped her whistle. Aomine – how – what – where had he come from? And how did he even do that?!

Her eyes blown wide, she replayed the scene in her head. Aomine must be naturally invisible on-court – that must be it! And he was using that to pass! It was perfect!

Smiling to herself, she checked her watch and blew the whistle for halftime.

* * *

"What – how – Aomine!" Kawahara was stuttering as the first-years and second-years gathered up on opposite sides of the court to discuss a new game plan in half-time.

"He was amazing, wasn't he? It's so cool!" Furihata told his year mates, glowing brightly. "He's invisible on court and used that to change the pass course, I think?" He nodded at Aomine.

Aomine nodded back, smirking. "Yeah, you aren't that stupid after all," he said to Furihata, who smiled a little nervously. "That's my talent. I suck at basketball, but I don't have any presence on court, and I have powerful wrists and hands, so I use that to pass and stuff. It's pretty useful if I do say so myself, but because I don't have much stamina compared to beasts like Kagami over here-"

"Hey!" Taiga objected.

"Shush, you," Aomine commanded and continued. "Since I only have average stamina, my misdirection doesn't last the full four quarters. If we're lucky, it should run out only after the game has ended. Usually I lose it halfway round quarter three if I've been playing the whole time, but since I haven't used it much this game I've got lots left."

"Misdirection?" asked Fukuda.

"Yeah. I have a natural lack of presence on-court, and I use that to direct attention off of me and onto the ball, which has the most presence on the court. That's why I don't hold the ball – because it has so much presence, my misdirection will be ineffective if I hold onto it," Aomine explained.

"Wow, that is pretty interesting," Taiga said, his curiosity piqued. "Guess you are a bit useful after all,"

Aomine whacked his head. "Shut up, basketball beast,"

* * *

"…and that's why we should triple-team Kagami," Shun finished, his analysis of the first-years complete.

"…what?" Koganei asked, looking at him.

Shun face-palmed.

"You saw Aomine pass to Kagami, how he suddenly appeared out of nowhere to redirect Furihata's pass. No one else has the same scoring capacity as Kagami has and you know Aomine is a terrible shooter, we all saw him miss that one shot," he repeated, condensing his explanation for Koganei. "So, if we triple-team Kagami, we're drastically reducing their chances of winning. Ideally, we should have you three on that and me and Hyūga facing off against them."

Koganei stared.

"…what's drastically? And capacity?" he asked.

Shun groaned. "Oh my God, I cannot deal with this level of stupid," he moaned. "Hyūga, go ahead."

The captain nodded. "With pleasure," he said, and cuffed Koganei over the head. Said boy whined loudly.

Shun put his head in his hands, sweat-dropping. "That isn't what I meant…"

"Anyway, let's head back on and show them who the real winners are," smirked Hyūga.

* * *

 **Like I always say, reviews are welcome!**


	3. His Potential is His Weakness

**Chapter Three – His Potential Is His Weakness**

* * *

 **Here, Aomine doesn't challenge Kagami like Kuroko did in the original, because, well,** **you'll see :)**

* * *

 _Oh, no_.

Daiki groaned mentally. They'd decided to triple-team Kagami.

Well, no matter. One of his other teammates would probably be able to score anyway –

And _no_ , the captain just had to be an amazing shooter.

Daiki sighed a little to himself and moved to mark the point guard, Izuki. In a battle of height, though he had less power, Daiki would definitely win. That being said, though Izuki probably had the least stamina and physical abilities out of them all, Daiki, for sure, had even lesser. And this Izuki guy was also probably very analytical, seeing as he _was_ point guard after all.

The scoreboard kept changing, kept changing, until the second-years were winning by a reasonable margin of ten points. The third quarter was drawing to a close.

 _No! We can't let this happen!_

Daiki gritted his teeth. He'd have to _make_ Kagami break through, wouldn't he?

He looked at Furihata, who nodded, eyes serious.

Or, at least, that was what happened in Daiki's head.

He looked at Furihata again, trying to channel the mysterious power that told a person that someone was watching them.

 _Come on, come on…_

Furihata turned, a set expression on his face, and…

Looked right through him.

Daiki 'tch'ed.

Honestly, people these days made you do all the work.

Grumbling to himself, he watched the ball carefully as it flew from Fukuda to Kawahara to Furihata –

"Aomine!" shouted the first-year, smacking the ball in Daiki's direction.

Daiki caught the ball, fumbling slightly. He eyed Kagami for a minute.

 _No, can't pass – he won't react in time_.

"Shoot it!" urged Kawahara.

A smile passed over Daiki's face as the perfect plan came to mind.

"Thanks," he murmured, running as fast as he could to the hoop. Izuki was hot on his heels, not letting him breathe for even a second.

Daiki jumped to shoot –

And it was clear that he was going to miss by a mile.

That was the catalyst for what happened next.

Not being able to bear the potential of that missed shot to become a perfect alley-oop, Kagami broke through the three defending him – Mitobe, Koganei and Tsuchida – with a loud yell and grabbed the ball out of mid-air, shoving it hard into the hoop.

Daiki smirked from where he kneeled on the floor, the jump for the shot having taken the wind out of him briefly.

"Yeah!" yelled Fukuda, high-fiving Kawahara.

Kagami looked discomfited.

Daiki rolled his eyes inwardly. That was an amazing alley-oop he'd set up for the other boy, and he was _still_ unsatisfied? What a brat.

It wasn't very difficult to score after that. The second-years (save for Izuki, who probably had some sort of special eye-related ability like Akashi's – Daiki didn't want to deal with another psycho, God help him) were caught off-guard a little too often by Daiki's sudden popping up next to them to declare, "Hey, can I have that?" and flicking the ball to Kagami.

What? Daiki didn't see any problem having a little joke, especially playing one on his seniors. It was fun and tended to spook Hyūga the most, evidenced by him going white and his eyes doing that weird anime thingy Daiki had seen on 'Shin-Chan' when he was a kid. Daiki didn't think that that could actually happen in real life, but Hyūga had proved him wrong.

The first-year boys won by a narrow margin, thanks to Kagami's constant dunks being countered by Hyūga's threes and Izuki's setting up the court for his team to score. But the redhead was unstoppable, constantly scoring thanks to Daiki's passes.

"Good job," Riko congratulated them.

"It was mostly Aomine and Kagami," explained Kawahara.

Fukuda smacked him. "We did well enough too. At least one-fourth of those points were scored by us! Don't undersell yourself, Kawahara!"

"O - okay," was the only reply he received.

"Anyway!" exclaimed Riko, clapping her hands together. "Freshmen! Meet me tomorrow on top of the school roof, do you understand?"

Daiki glanced sideways at Kagami, who didn't notice.

"Yes, Coach," he droned along with the rest of them.

* * *

Satsuki frowned at her phone, the attached image of a shirtless boy with spiky red hair glaring back up at her.

Why had Dai sent her this?

 _He's hot, but why'd you send this to me?_ she texted.

 _What's his stats?_ was the prompt reply.

Satsuki let out an understanding 'oh'. Of course. She felt like smacking herself.

She analysed the picture, eyes nearly popping out of her head.

 _Unreal, Dai! You won't believe…_

Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she detailed every one of this red-head's amazing statistics. Couldn't hurt to help her best friend, even if she was at Tōō now.

That also didn't mean that she wouldn't show this to _him._

Sighing, Satsuki tucked her phone back into her jacket pocket and began to trudge home wearily.

Tomorrow was another day, and another day brought with it a new way to deal with him.

* * *

Taiga grinned as he carried the mountain of burgers back to his table. This feast, all for him!

He unwrapped one, biting into it thoughtfully. What was that Aomine kid's deal?

He was rudely interrupted by a, "Oh, hey, shithead,"

There was no other word for it.

Taiga _screamed._

What he had been expecting (and actually gotten for two minutes!) was a nice, quiet window booth with no disturbances, just him and his burgers.

What he _got_ was one Daiki Aomine, observing him in a bored fashion from behind a small hill of fast food about half the size of Taiga's own.

"The hell are you doing here?" Taiga choked out.

Aomine quirked an eyebrow. "I was here first."

"Sure, you were," Taiga said with a roll of his eyes. "I don't believe it."

"I was," Aomine defended himself. "I'm just-"

Taiga rolled his eyes again. "Invisible. I know. Cut the crap."

"Well, I don't have a knife or scissors, otherwise you'd be bleeding right now," shot back Aomine.

Taiga stared at him. "…are you a psychopath?"

Aomine recoiled. "Hell no! You said to cut the crap; I reason that you're crap, and therefore I should cut you," he explained.

Taiga nearly facepalmed. "Idiot." he muttered to himself.

Aomine flushed. "Shut up. I am not. You are, if anything."

"So," Taiga said through a mouthful of burger, ignoring Aomine's protest and the jibe at him, "what are you even doing here?"

"I like their burgers." Aomine told him blankly.

Taiga stared. "What?"

"Are you deaf? I said I like their burgers." Aomine took another huge bite, spraying crumbs everywhere.

Taiga blinked. "So, there's really no other reason you're here? Like, really?" he asked.

Aomine looked at him for one long moment.

Then, "Uh… no?"

The answer was about as convincing as Alex when she told Taiga she'd just play one game of basketball with him and Tatsuya.

Which is to say, it wasn't convincing at all.

Taiga levelled the blue-eyed boy with a glare. "Why. Are. You. Here."

Aomine shrugged. "I want to eat a burger." He took another huge bite, and Taiga nearly flinched at the way he crammed the whole thing into his mouth.

It wasn't like he was any better, but no one asked about that.

Taiga glared harder.

Aomine put up his hands with wide eyes. "Okay, okay! I wanted to… talk to you. Make a deal of sorts."

He arched an eyebrow. "A deal?"

"Yeah. Jeez, you're so persistent. Just like…" Aomine trailed off again, looking down at his large brown hands.

"Just like who?" Taiga pressed curiously.

Aomine sighed. "None of your beeswax."

Taiga eyed him suspiciously, but gave up when he saw the hard look on the other boy's face. He wasn't going to get anything out of Aomine on this matter, that was for sure.

"All right," he said, stretching and getting up. "Let's get out of here and discuss this deal of yours. And if it involves me quitting basketball-"

Aomine cut him off, rising as well. "Why would I try to make you quit basketball?"

Taiga shrugged. "It's happened before." He dusted the crumbs off his jacket and moved to leave.

Aomine looked at him with a puzzled frown. "Wonder what idiot tried that," he muttered, following Taiga. "You love it too much to separate it and you."

Taiga stopped in shock. "How did you know that?"

Aomine shrugged and took the lead, opening the door. "I guess I could just tell, from the way you played."

Taiga's eyebrows rose. "You're not as dumb as you look."

The other boy ignored the insult and went on, "It's easy to see the fire in a person's eyes when they're doing something they love."

Wow. That was… pretty poetic. And pretty surprising coming from someone like Aomine.

Taiga stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and followed Aomine out the door.

* * *

"So, uh," Junpei cleared his throat. "You want to – go out? Get some food, or – or something?"

Shun's laugh was light and sweet, and it put a smile on Junpei's face. "I'd love to, silly. Just make sure it's something healthy. You know Riko's tracking what we eat."

Junpei rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, Mr. Diet Freak."

"I am _not,_ " Shun said, sounding whiny over the phone. "A diet freak."

"Okay, okay," Junpei tried to placate him. "Love you, baby."

"Baby? That's a new one." He sounded teasing now.

Junpei flushed. "Shut up."

"You're blushing, aren't you? You're so cute when you blush, it makes me want to kiss you."

If it was possible, he went redder. " _Shut up."_

"Come on, you know you like it,"

His cheeks hot and pink, Junpei pressed 'end' as fast as was humanly possible. He gritted his teeth.

 _Oh, how he hated and loved his boyfriend._

* * *

Daiki stopped when they were a little ways away from Maji, turning around to face Kagami and leaning on a lamppost.

"So, this deal."

 _I like him. Cuts to the chase, no beating around the bush. Plus, not bad-looking either,_ said the annoying voice in his brain. Daiki nicknamed it Damn Annoying.

 _Shut up, Damn Annoying,_ he told it and focused on the red-headed giant before him.

"Yeah." he replied.

"Well? What about it? You're the one who wanted to make one." Kagami said, arching a spiky eyebrow.

Daiki carded a hand through his hair. "Yeah. About that. Look, so you know I'm invisible on court and stuff. And, uh, I want Seirin to win this year. The inter-school tournaments, that is."

 _You're rambling,_ sang Damn Annoying. _Is this how you always get in front of cute boys? Luckily, I'm here to save your butt._

 _Shut your stupid face,_ Daiki told it emphatically, and continued to speak.

"Look, so basically what I'm trying to say is… there's this bunch of players. That I want to beat. And I don't play very well – I use my invisibility to pass to stronger players, people who can help me, help us as a team, win. Let me pass to you. And I'm not one for romantic, flowery lines, but… someone once told me that I was the shadow to their light. So let me be the shadow to your light, and make you the best in Japan."

Kagami frowned.

And then his face burst into a grin.

"I wasn't aware you operated the stage lights in a theatre. Shadows? Light?"

Daiki blushed. "Shut up. You're ruining it."

"Anyway," Kagami said, looking him up and down, "let's do this. Whatever nonsense you might be spouting, I heard a 'best in Japan' in there. So, looks like I'm on your side now."

Daiki grinned.

"I guess, yeah."

Kagami cracked his knuckles.

"All right." he said with a smirk. "Looks like we're doing this."

* * *

 **I hope you liked the chapter! Responding to reviews:**

 **JayMyBoy - Ohh, you'll see *evil laugh* I'm really happy you like it! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
**

 **Guys, do leave reviews. I've put my life and soul into writing this story, and it's kind of sad that I've gotten only one. Please. It makes an author so happy to see a review.  
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 **I'm not gonna beg, but I will implore you to. And if you don't like FF-Hell's style, I've also published this on AO3 under the name 'CeruleanShockwave'. Also, hit me up on Tumblr: ceruleanshockwave!**


	4. More Than What He Seems

**Chapter 4 – More Than He Seems To Be**

* * *

"Hey, isn't that Aomine and Kagami?"

Junpei squinted. "I think so? There's definitely no one else I know who has dark red or dark blue hair."

Figured with Shun's Eagle Eye, he'd be the one to spot them first. Junpei's vision was quite frankly terrible without his glasses, which weren't very helpful in basketball, but contacts made him want to rip his own eyes out, so what could one do?

"Oi! Aomine! Kagami!" Shun was standing on his tiptoes, waving at them and calling loudly.

Damn Annoying turned, and even to someone practically blind like Junpei, he could tell that the boy's characteristic smirk was gone, replaced by a confused frown.

Kagami, from halfway across the street, had apparently recognised them, and had started heading in their direction. Aomine reluctantly followed.

Junpei closed the distance, Shun following on his heels, and asked, "Damn Annoying?"

Aomine frowned. "How'd you know that's what the voice is called?"

Shun laughed. "Voice? Aomine, kid, you need to see a psychiatrist if you're hearing voices."

"I do _not,_ " protested Aomine, remembering to tack on a hasty, "sir," at the end.

"Sir?" He and Junpei exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

"That's a new one." commented Kagami, seeming equally amused.

Aomine went red. "Shut _up._ "

"I thought you hated each other's guts?" Shun asked, quirking an eyebrow. He was good at reading situations between people, given that he had Eagle Eye and all that.

The first-years exchanged glances, and Aomine was the first to speak.

"Oh, sure as hell," he said lazily, picking at his fingernails. "But we've come to an… agreement, of sorts."

"Agreement?" Now Junpei was interested. "What are you talking about?"

"Deal?" Shun's eyes had that spark in them that indicated that he was going to make a terrible pun. "What deal did you deal him, Aomine?"

Kagami looked like he had walked into a wall.

"Shut _up,_ " Junpei hissed, elbowing Shun. "What agreement?"

"Well, uh," Aomine and Kagami exchanged glances.

"It's something you'll see. Very soon." Aomine said hurriedly.

"Like tomorrow soon," added Kagami helpfully.

Shun checked his watch. "You guys should keep a watch on your watches. It's late."

Aomine peered at the time and yelped. "I really have to go now, the woman will kill me!"

He was halfway across the street before Junpei realised he'd even gone. Damn invisibility.

"Uh, I'll be leaving too, sir," Kagami said hastily, and hightailed it out of there with a salute.

"You too?" Shun called after him, voice full of mirth.

Junpei slipped his arm through his boyfriend's. "Come on. I called you to spend time with _you_ , not to run around after our first-years."

"Aw, you're so sweet," Shun replied with a grin, kissing Junpei lightly on the cheek, and together they began to walk, going wherever their feet took them.

* * *

"Daiki! Where _have_ you been? You said you would get dinner and come home!"

Daiki winced. His mother was _angry._ This was not good.

"Hey, mom," he mumbled, sidling into the kitchen as quietly as possible. "Sorry. I, uh, got side-tracked."

"Side-tracked," repeated Daria Aomine, hands on her hips, short blue hair all over the place. "Want to say that again?"

Now, if this had been anybody else, Daiki would have _absolutely_ repeated his sentence, and with an arrogant smirk to top it all off. But this was his mother, and you did _not_ screw around with Daiki's mother.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he mumbled, ducking his head. "I, um, bumped into someone and lost track of time."

Daria's lips thinned.

"Go to your room."

Daiki's head snapped up.

"But Mom-!" he exclaimed.

"No buts." Her voice was firm and unyielding. "Go. To. Your. Room."

Daiki made a face, but gripped his bag and started to trudge up the stairs.

 _Stupid woman,_ he groused mentally. _Why does she have to get mad at me for everything?_

He tossed his bag carelessly into the corner of his room and felt tiredness wash over him. Huffing, he flopped down onto the bed, long arms akimbo, staring at the ceiling.

 _Kagami is unreal, huh?_

That's what Satsuki had said, at any rate.

 _He's a monster, Dai. You'd be an idiot to let him go,_ she'd texted him that evening.

Daiki sighed.

"My life is so stupid." he said aloud to no one in particular.

* * *

Satsuki clenched her phone tightly, fingernails digging into her palm.

"Please, just take a look." she begged. "I can tell you all about him. He's different. Maybe he can beat you."

"It's useless. No one can beat me." The voice was listless, dull. Different from its usual dullness – but this had become the norm, hadn't it? For him to sound so lifeless?

Satsuki pressed her lips together, not willing to reply. He was so… _stubborn._

A silence prevailed between them for the better part of two minutes, Satsuki's resolve slowly crumbling.

Finally, unable to take it anymore, she cried, "Just sit up and take some interest in life!"

There was no answer. She waited for one second, two seconds…

Then, in just as listless a voice as before, "What's the use?"

* * *

Taiga hummed a melody under his breath as he chopped vegetables for the stir fry.

"My heart will go on…" he sang, adding the spices to the pan and flipping them a couple of times.

Yes, he was a sucker for sad romances. Your point?

He nearly teared up remembering the scene where Rose had dropped her blue pendant into the sea, to remain with Jack forever.

On second thought, that could have just been the onions he'd been cutting.

Speaking of blue…

Taiga's thoughts wandered to a certain blue-haired idiot he'd met yesterday.

Daiki Aomine. Strange kid, that guy. Rude and brash and stupid and, oh wait, did he forget to mention that Aomine was invisible? Freaky, that.

Still, Taiga figured he wasn't so bad. No one who loved basketball enough to want to continue even if they weren't great at it could be that terrible, right?

Besides, they had a deal. And maybe he'd agreed partly because Aomine was slightly good-looking.

Very slightly.

 _Oh, who was he kidding?!_

* * *

"Wake _up,_ you lazy lout!" Daria swung the pillow, smacking her son in the face.

"I'm up, I'm up," Daiki grumbled, rubbing his face and sitting up. He stood slowly, attempting to lumber in the general direction of the bathroom, but Daria caught him by the collar.

"Fold your bed-sheets first," she scolded.

"Why do I have to?" Daiki whined.

Daria crossed her arms and glared at her son.

"Fine, fine," he mumbled. "Later."

" _Now._ "

"All right, woman!" Daiki threw his hands up and started to fold the blanket, dumping the messily folded cloth on his bed as soon as he was done. "I'm going to the bathroom now."

"Don't take forever!" she called after him, then pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Really, her son was a piece of work.

But a good-looking piece of work, she had to admit.

After all, he'd gotten her looks.

With a satisfied smirk almost exactly like one of Daiki's own, she left the room to go and wake her idiot husband up.

* * *

The sound of an alarm ringing, loud and shrill, echoed through the large, empty apartment. A long arm reached out from under the covers and slapped the clock a couple of times, trying to turn it off, to no avail.

Grumbling, Taiga pushed the covers away and got out of bed, rubbing at his eyes.

"I hate mornings," he muttered, running a hand through his hair with a frown. Now that he was fully awake, there was no point in wasting time when he could get to school and play basketball with that Aomine, whose style was so weirdly cool.

He showered quickly and shoved a sandwich he'd made last night into his bag for lunch, checked his books quickly to make sure he had everything he needed for the day, and left the apartment, locking it on his way out.

* * *

Riko kissed her girlfriend's cheek gently and swung her leg off the bike.

"Thanks for the lift, Akari," she said with a soft smile.

"It's all right." Akari's ash-blonde hair, tangled from the wind, blew into her face. She grinned back at Riko, pushing the hair out of her grey eyes and blowing a kiss to the shorter girl. Dusting her uniform skirt down, she revved the engine and turned the bike, yelling a "See you later, Kuma!"

Riko pinked a little as her classmates turned to stare in her direction, but waved at the quickly-disappearing cloud of dust that was Akari.

Honestly, she did love her girlfriend, but Akari could be a bit… _much_ sometimes.

Shaking her head, Riko set her mind to the things she had to do before morning assembly: meet the first-years on the roof, make sure her homework was done, and -

Oh _, crap,_ wasn't she supposed to submit her essay on Date Masamune today? The essay which was fifty percent of her Japanese History grade?

"Hyūga!" she screamed, turning and pushing through the crowds, snatching her notebook from her bag as she did so. She was already scribbling down the title of the essay as she yelled, "Excuse me! Someone! Have you seen Junpei Hyūga?! Yeah, yeah, the four-eyes with the anger management problem! Junpei Hyūga!"

* * *

Needless to say, Junpei was not amused.

He crossed his arms and glared at the girl in front of him.

"Please help me," Riko begged.

"You called me a four-eyes." he deadpanned.

"With an anger management problem," piped up Shun from beside him.

"Yeah. Thanks, Shun," he said, giving his boyfriend a small smile, and turning back to Riko.

"You called me a four-eyes with an anger management problem."

"Yeah, but you're the only one that can help me," Riko pleaded, making the puppy face Junpei was so susceptible to.

He rolled his eyes and looked away. "No means no."

"Consent is very important," added Shun with a wink.

"Hey, _you're_ dating him," Riko pointed out indignantly. "Shouldn't _you_ be the one threatening him not to sleep with others?"

Shun shrugged. "As long as I know he's not," he said with a somewhat frightening smile.

"We're getting off track." Junpei said bluntly, clearing his throat. "I'm not helping you. Not after you called me 'four-eyes'."

Riko's eyes gleamed then, and he gulped.

"How does forty extra laps after training sound?" she asked sweetly.

Junpei's mouth went dry.

"I think he's changed his mind," said Shun helpfully.

Riko smiled like a shark. "That's good. Now, what do I write in this essay, Hyūga?"

* * *

"Haah? Satsuki?"

Daiki winced at his friend's shrill volume as she yelled in his ear, "It's 8.30, Dai! Why aren't you at school yet?"

"Chill!" he defended himself, holding the phone at arm's length. "School starts at 8.45. I'm halfway there."

Half-truth. He'd just left, but if he ran he'd make it. Plus, his invisibility sometimes worked in his favour.

"All right," she huffed. "So, how was Kagami? Is he like… you know?"

"Not really," Daiki said, unsurprised at his own candor but still alarmed - he'd have to restrict himself from telling Satsuki things now she was managing a different school. "Different. We struck a deal. And yes, I was polite. Didn't call him an idiot."

"And?" Satsuki was clearly able to tell he was holding something back. One of the few cons of having known her since they were babies in diapers.

"And…" Daiki heaved a sigh. "I used _his_ line."

Satsuki's voice softened. "He would be proud, you know?"

"Yeah, whatever." Daiki muttered, swallowing the lump that had suddenly arisen in his throat. "No offense, but I don't care, Satsuki."

"Sorry, Dai." She sounded almost disappointed. "I just thought… you're settling in so well. I thought you'd be lost without me and him, but that clearly isn't the case." She laughed, but it was slightly more high-pitched than normal.

"Hey," Daiki melted almost immediately. "No. It's pretty much you being here that's keeping me sane. The guys here are all so _crazy,_ I need you to make me stable."

"You're a softie inside, Dai,"

"I am not," Daiki grumbled, sympathy evaporating almost instantly, and hung up.

Honestly, this woman…

* * *

 **Sorry, guys, late update! I've been doing a lot of stuff for school, and planning out more chapters. I can barely write as my gadgets keep getting snatched though :(**

 **On a happier note, I've switched to Google Drive, so you might not have to wait till I'm able to keep bouncing the Word file between laptop and mobile!**

 **Like I said last chapter, please leave feedback! I thrive on it as all writers do :)**

 **Love you all!**


	5. Everything He Never Said

**Chapter Five - Everything He Never Said**

* * *

Taiga shifted impatiently from foot to foot, standing on the roof. Kawahara, Fukuda and Furihata stood behind him, also somewhat restless, as was evidenced from their relentless fidgeting.

"Where _is_ that Aomine?" he hissed suddenly, stamping his foot. Just like that jerk to be late. All thoughts of him not being so bad flew right out of the window in light of Taiga's new annoyance with him.

"Uh, I've been here for fifteen minutes?" said a new voice, deep and apathetic as ever.

Taiga jumped at the sudden sound, letting out a _very_ manly shriek.

"You!" He pointed an accusing finger at Aomine, who was now clearly visible. "Don't you ever do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack?"

Aomine smirked. "Well, we all need some entertainment in life every now and then."

"Entertainment?" Taiga asked furiously, fist already coming up to grab Aomine by the collar of his shirt when the shrill sound of a whistle pierced his ears.

The coach had arrived.

Fukuda winced.

"That's loud, Coach," said Kawahara lamely.

Riko smirked. "Well, of course it is. That's how it should be!"

All the Seirin first-years sweatdropped at that.

"Everyone is here, right? Where's Aomine?"

"I'm right here! Have been for fifteen minutes!" Aomine shouted again, losing patience.

Riko winced. "Sorry." She then clapped her hands, a smirk blossoming on her face. "Okay, let's get down to business! What I wanted you guys to do is..."

They all waited with bated breath for her to get on with the big reveal.

"Shout out your name, class and why you want to join the basketball club to everyone at the assembly - and if you don't achieve that goal, you'll have to confess to your crush naked!" she said triumphantly, smirk growing wider.

The first-years exchanged uneasy glances - well, all except for Taiga, who grinned. He was so thankful he had never had a crush, unlike the others, who were red-faced at the thought - even Aomine, that heartless jerk.

"Doesn't seem too bad," he said and stepped forward, swinging himself up to stand on the railing of the roof with preternatural ease.

Aomine seemed slightly concerned. "What if you fall off?"

Taiga felt slightly gratified at this display of worry.

"It's going to be a pain in the ass cleaning your blood and bones off the school walls, because _obviously_ they're gonna make us all do it." added Aomine, and the gratification was gone in an instant. Taiga turned, swaying dangerously on his perch, and hissed murderously, "You little _shit_ , just wait till I'm-"

"Get _on_ with it, Kagami!" Riko shouted impatiently.

Anger forgotten, Taiga drew in a deep breath to bellow, "Class 1-B, Taiga Kagami! I will defeat the Generation of Miracles and become the number one basketball player in Japan!"

Oblivious to all the heads that had snapped up in utter shock, he stepped down and gestured to the railing. "Go on, I don't wanna get caught."

"That's a great aspiration, Kagami!" Riko said, clapping her hands in delight.

Furihata inhaled sharply and climbed up, opening his mouth to yell, "Class 1-A, Kōki Furihata! I want to become cool so I can impress the person I like!"

Taiga noticed he hadn't specified the gender of this person.

... _it's either Fukuda or Kawahara._

What? It was pretty obvious, the way the kid looked at both of them. Plus Taiga had watched millions of romantic comedies - it was second nature to observe brewing chemistry by now.

He shook his head, returning to the present, as Riko grinned. "So you're going to confess to him or her anyway,"

Furihata blushed. "Well, yeah."

She clapped him on the back. "Good on you, Furi! Next!"

Kawahara climbed onto the rails and shouted, "Class 1-B, Kōichi Kawahara! I was sick when I was younger, so I couldn't do much! I want to become strong and have friends to last a lifetime by joining the basketball team!"

"Nice, Kawahara! Next up, Fukuda! We want to be quick before the vice principal catches us!"

Fukuda clambered up and shouted, "Class 1-A, Hiroshi Fukuda! I want to support my friends and play the sport I love!"

Riko grinned. "Excellent work, boys! Now, Aomine-"

She was cut off by the door to the roof clanging open suddenly, and her face paled.

"Oh, no,"

The vice principal stood there, fuming. "MISS AIDA! You and this god-damn basketball club are at it again?! I can't believe this! You received detentions for nearly three weeks last year and you still have the audacity to…" Around that point, Taiga tuned out.

He was later informed that he'd have detention for a week. Oh, well. Couldn't be helped.

That sneaky rascal Aomine had escaped it, though - damn lack of presence. He hadn't gotten his chance to shout out his ambitions, but Taiga suspected they were pretty similar to his.

Sighing, he made his way to class, feeling the glare of the vice principal all the way to the room.

* * *

Daiki stretched and yawned as the lunch bell rang.

 _Oh, snap,_ he thought as he realised he'd forgotten to do his Math homework.

He'd just have to mooch off the smart kid next to him. What was his name again? Matsuko? Natsuko? Matsukawa? Yeah, must be Matsukawa.

Shrugging it off, he decided to go find the lunch hall and grab something to eat. Maybe he could ask Satsuki for help with the math. God knew she was the one thing that kept his grades up back at Teikō.

He bought a sandwich, then made his way to a small table - or at least, he was going to.

Until he heard a shout of, " _AOMINE!_ Where the _fuck_ are you, you spectre?!"

Daiki resented this. He was _not_ a spectre; he was all flesh and blood, thank you very much.

Sighing, he turned around to see Kagami come up from nowhere, Tsuchida besides him - really, wasn't that Daiki's job? - and sling a muscled arm around his shoulder with a, "The upperclassmen say that the basketball team always eats together. Get your ass moving."

He pointed to the noisiest table in the center of the room - which just so happened to be surrounded by girls.

Tsuchida groaned. "I feel so bad for Izuki and Hyūga."

"Izuki and Hyūga?" Daiki asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"He's a hit with the girls because he's good-looking and friendly. Unfortunately for them, he's dating Hyūga - but they won't take a hint," explained the closed-eyed boy wearily. "Come on, let's go."

Daiki grunted and followed his - friend? partner? Wait, why was there even a possessive pronoun over there?

Annoyed at himself, he growled lowly all the way to the table, having to squeeze himself in at the corner due to not being seen. Damn invisibility.

After a few minutes of listening to idle conversation Izuki was having with the girls - and really, even Daiki, having been called "denser than iron" by a certain annoying vegetable, could tell that the Eagle Eye user was trying to get them to back off - his mind began to wander.

 _I didn't get my chance to shout on the rooftop… but I still need to make a grand gesture._

 _Otherwise, I might never be able to get him back._

* * *

"So, you want to beat the Generation of Miracles, huh?"

Taiga jumped in fright, twisting nearly fully around from where he'd been staring out of the window.

"Don't _do_ that, you asshole!" he screamed loudly. _How_ could he have forgotten who exactly the goddamn Math teacher had decided to place him next to?

"Do what?" Aomine asked, blinking innocently down at Taiga, who pursed his lips.

"You know damn well what." he hissed and turned back to gazing at the clouds aimlessly.

"You didn't answer me," Aomine persisted.

"The cow will kill us." Taiga answered absently, already back in his 'not giving a fuck about his annoying neighbour' mode.

'The cow' was the class' nickname for the Math teacher, given that she… well, resembled a cow. _Very_ much so.

"Math teacher's absent, there's a sub. Now you said you wanted to beat the Generation of Miracles?" Aomine pestered.

Taiga's head snapped to him, eyes wide. "...you can tell me about them?" he asked excitedly, grabbing the front of Aomine's shirt.

The spectre (that's what he was to Taiga at any rate. Invisibility? This guy could make a fortune just popping up out of nowhere in horror houses.) frowned. "Not if you're gonna push me around like that. My bones just might fall out of my body."

Taiga let go of Aomine reluctantly. "All right, tell me. What are their names? What schools do they go to? What are their abilities-"

Aomine raised a hand, eyebrows high on his forehead. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's too many questions. All I can tell you are their names, schools, and the positions they play. Any more and I'd be cheating."

"Cheating?" Taiga quirked an eyebrow, but Aomine ignored him.

"First, Ryōta Kise. Small forward at Kaijō in Kanagawa."

Taiga nodded. "Heard of him. Copy-cat?"

Aomine hummed. "Yeah. Next, Shintarō Midorima." He made a face. "Annoying vegetable. Plays at Shūtoku, here in Tokyo."

"What position? Shooting guard, isn't he?" Taiga asked curiously.

Aomine glared. "Well, if you know who they are, then why are you even asking me anything?!"

"Because you might know more!" Taiga shot back. "Now go on."

Aomine pressed his lips together. "I - don't want to." His voice cracked briefly in the middle, and Taiga wondered why. After all, it wasn't like he had _known_ them personally and they'd done something to him, right?

"Please," he implored.

Aomine looked almost pained, but continued, voice getting terser and more strained as he spoke. "Atsushi Murasakibara. Center, at Yōsen in Akita. Next is Seijūrō Akashi, point guard, at Rakuzan in Kyoto."

Taiga frowned. "You're missing one. Who's the power forward? Isn't he-"

"Don't speak his name,"

Aomine's voice was a whisper, and Taiga looked at him - _really_ looked at him - to see, in utter shock, that he was _crying._

"Tōō. That's - all I can tell you." he rasped, wiping frantically at his wet face.

Taiga put a hand on Aomine's back and rubbed circles on it awkwardly.

"Hey… man," he hesitantly said. "You don't have to say his name, okay? I'm - I'm sorry."

Aomine straightened up, and though his cheeks were still wet, his eyes were dry and glimmered with hardened resolve.

"Look, I'm gonna be straight with you. I _hate_ the Miracles. All of them. Especially," and Taiga shuddered at the venom in his tone, " _him_. The god-damn power forward. Like I said, he and Satsuki go to Tōō."

"Satsuki?"

"Yeah, the manager of the Miracles - she's _really_ good with data and stats. She could tell all yours just by looking at you."

Taiga was impressed. "Whoa."

Aomine nodded. "Whoa indeed. She and… _him_ … are a formidable combination. Honestly, I told her to come to Seirin, but _nooo,_ she just had to go to Tōō." He grumbled this last part, and Taiga had to wonder if he was dating her or something.

He voiced this question, and Aomine looked repulsed almost.

"Why in all hell would I date that nutjob? I've known her since I was two!" he yelled indignantly.

Taiga put his hands up. "Whoa, calm down, okay? I was kidding."

Aomine looked put out.

"I still want to vomit at the thought of _dating Satsuki_. Of all the people," he muttered to himself.

Taiga laughed. This Aomine wasn't so bad if they weren't bickering after all. And his pouty face was even…

Dare he say it?

 _Kind of cute._

Taiga went red and slapped himself.

 _Shut up, me!_

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Aomine looking worriedly at him.

"You okay, dumbass? Why'd you hit yourself?"

Taiga growled. "I'm not a dumbass."

 _And here we go again,_ thought the rest of the class, sighing in unison as the two boys began to scuffle, pulling and pushing and hitting each other.

* * *

Shun pushed his hair out of his eyes as he scrolled through his phone. The new art gallery in Akiba had opened up just yesterday, and he wanted to see where Aya's paintings were going to be put up. She'd been ecstatic when they called her up and asked her to come and display her work.

"All right, team, gather round!" Riko shouted, clapping loudly.

Shun sighed, putting his phone away, and jogged towards the coach. "Yeah?" he asked, along with Tsuchida, Koganei and Hyūga.

"We'll start with a warm-up of ten laps around the school building - it's lucky it's sunny, and perfect for running! We'll be running drills and practicing technique today, is that clear? Kagami and Aomine, you will also have to work on working together. It's pretty obvious you don't get along, so start getting along!"

The said two winced. "Yes, Coach," they muttered in dissatisfaction.

"All right, let's go!" Riko blew her whistle, and the team as one ran out of the gym to do their laps.

Shun hummed as he ran, enjoying the warm sun on his back and the smell of cherry blossoms all around him. April was a beautiful month, really. The beginning of the summer season heralded only good things as far as he'd known.

Of course, that was all about to change very soon.

Later, as they practiced their technique, Shun and Junpei inevitably wound up together. The captain, of course, decided that Shun's three pointers needed some work (they did) and started helping him with his form.

"Have you heard from the gallery?" Junpei asked as he corrected his boyfriend's stance.

"Yeah," Shun said, grinning. "And they want Aya's stuff."

"That's great, congratulate her on my part,"

Shun nudged Junpei gently before shooting, much better this time. "You're coming home for dinner today, doofus. You can do it yourself."

"Doofus?" the shooting guard asked playfully.

"Yeah. The only things you're good at are Japanese History and basketball, you lunk," Shun teased.

"What about you, Mr. Smart Guy? I seem to recall you nearly failing in Geography last year."

The friendly bickering went on till the end of practice, and Riko finally blew her whistle. Sighs of relief escaped the whole team - though out of all of them, Kagami and Aomine seemed the happiest, darting to opposite ends of the gym as if they couldn't wait to be freed of the other.

"Finally, it's over," sighed Aomine.

"Not so fast, boys! You're going to have to do this everyday," the coach called, grinning evilly.

Kagami gulped, while Aomine paled.

Shun honestly pitied those two.

Sighing, he grabbed his bag, pulling his water bottle out, and chugged down about half of the water in it before his phone buzzed.

"Who's that?" Junpei asked, hovering over his shoulder as Shun pulled out the device, which displayed 'Unknown Number'.

"Let's see," Shun replied, pressing 'Accept' and putting the phone to his ear.

"Hello, _Shun,_ " an oily, all-too-familiar voice said.

Shun froze, too stunned to speak a word.

He could dimly hear Junpei asking, "Shun? Oi, what's wrong?!"

But it didn't matter.

None of it mattered.

 _How had that man gotten his number?_

And _why would he call, after so many goddamn years leaving them alone?!_

* * *

"A grand gesture, huh?" Satsuki bit her lip, mulling over the possibilities. "You could, uh, draw in the sand?" she proposed into the phone.

Dai gave out an annoyed grunt, and Satsuki could tell he wasn't really on board with the idea. "I'll think about it," he said unconvincingly, and she sighed.

"We all know you won't, Dai,"

"Yeah, well, ain't your best idea, Satsuki," he told her.

She had to agree, honestly.

 _A grand gesture…_

"Give the coach flowers," she suggested wickedly.

Daiki yelped loudly. "Are you _crazy_ , woman?! I'm not even into her!"

"Right," Satsuki decided to tease her best friend. "You're only into hot, tall, muscled guys who have red hair and go by the name of Taiga Kagami."

" _SHUT UP!_ " Oh, she could almost _see_ him blushing. Satsuki grinned. This was a lot more fun than it had been with -

No. she shook her head decisively. She wasn't going to ruin the best evening she'd had in a long time by thinking about _assholes._

"Returning to the topic," Dai sounded very terse and annoyed. Satsuki rolled her eyes distractedly (there was a cute dress in the window of Hot Topic, how could you blame her?).

"Well, you like painting. Maybe paint a basketball on the school wall or something?" she suggested absently, still looking at the dress and wondering if it might cost her too much.

"Thanks, Satsuki." Daiki's voice had a sudden spark to it, and Satsuki realised what she'd just said.

"No - Dai, wait! You can't-"

But he'd already cut the call.

 _Oh, God save Satsuki Momoi._

* * *

 **Okay, so this is going to be a long AN and if you only wanna see the responses to your reviews you're gonna have to scroll down a little, sorry haha**

 **Hi, guys! I hope you liked this chapter. The story will really start picking up next chapter, with a certain** _ **someone's**_ **entrance… guess who?**

 **My class teacher, who teaches History and Geography, is the inspiration for AoKaga's Math teacher. Her name even** _ **means**_ **cow! Plus she looks like she'd be completely at home feeding on grass or something. Sorry, this isn't 'teacher rant time', lol**

 **I realised that last chapter I didn't respond to the reviews! Sorry, guys! I won't go back and respond now - but I won't forget again!**

 **Chapter 4 review responses:**

 **JayMyBoy: No, thank** _ **you**_ **for reviewing and being a faithful reader! I'm glad you are liking it so far :33**

 **YukinaAiko: Oh my gosh, thank you! It's so amazing to know that there are people like you out there who are following this story and enjoying my updates!**

 **Aira Aura: Yay, thank you! I'm honestly surprised - it has been more than 6 years since KnB came out and no one thought of this, haha! But it gives me a chance to write it, so woohoo! :D**


	6. A Visit From The Past

**Chapter Six - A Visit From The Past**

* * *

Daiki shot up out of bed at sharp six a.m, with no trace of his usual laziness to be seen.

Today, he had a job to do.

He slipped on his uniform faster than lightning and nearly ran out of his room, thundering downstairs - it was really a miracle that no one awoke. Moving to the little closet where he kept the stuff he used for such… _occasions_ , he ran his finger over the selection of items and stopped five times, flicking a bottle out each time. When he was sufficiently armed, he stood up and grinned, shoving the cans into his bag and heading out the door after pasting a sticky note on the door. The note read: _I'm going to school early for a project and I'll take food from a classmate. Don't worry about me._

Or, at least, it was supposed to.

What it really said was: _m goin to skul earlie for a prawjekt and eyell teik food frm a klasmayt. don worie abt mi._

To be fair, spelling was not exactly Daiki's forte.

* * *

Two hours later and Daiki stepped back from his work, sweaty and tired but satisfied with the end result.

"Perfect," he muttered, looking down at his paint-covered hands and grimacing. Oh, well. Nothing to be done about it now. He pulled the oil from his duffel and began to scrub at his hands with it, massaging the viscous liquid into his dark skin. It was a process that took time and energy, both of which he didn't have right now.

"...what in God's name…" came a faint voice from behind him.

Daiki whirled to see the vice-captain - Iduki? No, Izuki - standing behind him with a slightly open mouth.

"What is that?" he repeated, staring vacantly at the huge mural on the wall.

"My, uh, thing. For that rooftop thing. Y'know." Daiki said lamely, attempting to hide his hands, covered in paint up to the elbows.

"...you actually went and painted the wall! The _school wall!_ You realise what's gonna happen when the teachers find out, right?"

"I'll cover it over tomorrow," grumbled Daiki.

Izuki huffed a breath and stepped closer to him, pulling his arms out from behind his back. "They're going to know it's you if you still have that on. You've already started with the oil? Good. It's flaking off, but not fast enough." He rummaged in his bag for a minute before pulling out a small bottle that read ' _Essential Oils'_. "I always carry this with me. Works a shit ton better than that stuff you're using."

He poured a few drops into Daiki's hands and instructed him to rub. "Don't massage it. Otherwise it's going to stick."

"How do you know all this?" Daiki asked suspiciously.

Izuki laughed, screwing the cap of the bottle back on and stowing it away. "Ah, I paint sometimes."

"That's an understatement," Hyūga said lazily, sidling up from behind Izuki. "You're capable of staying up for three whole days to finish a painting."

A muscle twitched in Daiki's jaw. Wasn't it _his_ job to show up from nowhere?!

"I'll show it to the coach. Get to class and get that paint off from under your nails before someone notices and figures out it was you. Though they'll probably think it was you, like always." Hyūga jerked his head towards Izuki, who rolled his eyes.

"Not every paint-related accident at this school is because of me, you know?"

"The paintball thing."

Izuki huffed. "That was _your_ fault."

"The pipes exploding with your favourite red paint that everyone was so freaked out about because they thought it was blood."

"Well, _Koganei_ was the one who decided he'd dump a bucketful of that paint down the drains! I only brought it to school to finish off that sunset for art class."

"The dried paint on the blackboard yesterday,"

"English teacher was being a jerk."

"That doesn't mean you get to throw a half-dry paint-bomb at the board so he can't write on it! You know I need those notes or I'll fail."

"Just copy mine! You always do anyway."

"Oh, shut up,"

"I'll shut you up all right!"

As fun as this was, Daiki really needed to get going - he'd be late for his own English class if he didn't. He slipped away, thankful for his ability to go unnoticed as his two upperclassmen began fervently kissing.

* * *

The school day passed quickly, Daiki having slept through almost all his classes - oh, don't give him that look, Satsuki did it enough anyway - and feeling well-rested. Time for basketball! He grinned, rubbing his hands together, and walked out of class, bumping into Kagami as he exited.

"Watch where you're going!" he yelled, and Kagami's head whipped around a couple of times, searching for the person who'd shouted at him, before he finally saw Daiki.

" _You_ watch it," he growled back. Daiki smirked.

"Is this an invitation for a fight?"

"Oh, you bet-" Kagami started, but was cut off by Tsuchida waving at them and yelling, "We're going to be late if we don't go right now!"

Daiki, who'd grabbed Kagami's collar at some point in their admittedly short conversation, blinked and released it. They both ran to catch up with Tsuchida, who commented, "Didn't the school day go a bit quick today? I felt like we had barely any classes."

Daiki shrugged. "Maybe it's just Ceru being lazy and not wanting to make us suffer through it all."

He was given odd looks by both his teammates.

"...Aomine, who the _fuck_ is Ceru?" Kagami asked incredulously.

Daiki shrugged. "No idea." He really didn't know. Just some weird thing that randomly popped into his mind.

"Forget it," Tsuchida said as they reached the gym. The three slowed to a halt, Kagami throwing open the doors, and all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it was still dark.

"Thank God," sighed Kagami. "I thought we were dead."

The lights flicked on all of a sudden, and the three latecomers shrieked in unison like little girls. Daiki and Kagami had somehow ended up clinging to each other, and they slowly unentangled themselves, glaring at the other all the while.

Riko and the rest of the team stood in the center of the gym, the coach smirking evilly and toying with her whistle.

"Don't thank anyone just yet, Kagami," she warned sweetly, an underlying razor-sharp edge to her tone. "You'll be cursing God by the time I'm done with you three. Tsuchida, I'll let you off since you were probably trying to corral these idiots-"

Said power forward sighed in relief. "Thanks, Coach."

"But you two?" Riko continued, darkly glinting eyes fixed on Daiki and Kagami. "You _both_ get to run ten extra laps each. Outside."

Daiki opened his mouth to whine, just as it started to rain. Heavily.

Riko smiled again. "Running in the rain sounds fun, doesn't it? Off you go!"

They went quietly, grumbling all the way and making sure to keep as far a distance as possible from each other.

* * *

Shun watched his underclassmen walk into the gym sopping wet through the corner of his eye as he shot again. His three-pointers were getting a little better. Junpei had helped out with his form a bit more, and the work was honestly worth it.

 _Work… worth it… It was honestly work it? Nah, not as good as some of my others,_ he thought to himself, dismissing the failed attempt at a pun.

"Let's run drills!" called Riko, and Shun turned, dropping the ball into the crate and following after Junpei to do as the coach commanded. As they trained, his mind kept drifting back to the call he had received earlier.

 _Why now? Why now, after so many years? What's with the sudden interest?_

He pressed his lips together in frustration, trying to puzzle it out. What was so urgent that he called _now,_ after ten years?

Nothing that was remotely related to that man could be good. And Shun was determined to figure it out. It could be a potential threat to his mother and sisters' safety, and he wasn't willing to risk that.

Not again.

* * *

Daiki slumped over in exhaustion, clothes still damp and hair soaking. The rain had stopped a little while ago, thankfully, so he wouldn't have to walk home in it. "Can we be done for the day?" he pleaded to no one in particular, hoping fervently that his wish would come true. Sadly, there was more than an hour to go, and the wetness on his face and body was now more from sweat than rain water.

"Okay!" Riko clapped her hands. "Let's practice dribbling and dunking now!"

"Yes, Coach!" chorused everybody, moving into position and forming a line behind Hyūga to pick up balls from the crate and start practice.

Daiki was just about to take his turn - right after Furihata - when the doors of the gym suddenly slammed open and a familiar voice cried, " _Aominecchi!_ "

A bright yellow blur raced towards him, and he cringed, squeezing his eyes shut. He knew what was coming, and he had to be prepared for it.

Daiki threw his hands up, bracing for impact, as six heavily muscled feet of Ryōta Kise slammed bodily into him, wrapping his arms around Daiki's waist and squealing, "It's been so long!"

* * *

Taiga stared at the crazy blonde that had burst into their gym, disturbed their training and practically _attacked_ Aomine headfirst. Aomine was still standing, a surprise in itself. Taiga would have been too shocked to brace himself. But the way Aomine was reacting, he seemed almost _used_ to it.

The blonde finally tore himself away from Aomine, grinning widely, and raised his face to show off model-worthy brown eyes, an elegant Roman nose, bow-shaped lips and an earring paired with an impressive physique that probably had all the girls swooning over him. Taiga faintly remembered this boy on the cover of some trashy magazine his aunt had bought when he had gone out grocery shopping with her. And come to think of it, didn't the Generation of Miracles have a blonde player?

Taiga's eyes flew wide, and he grinned as he realised who he was standing in front of.

 _So, this is Ryōta Kise, huh… he seems more like a pretty boy than anything…_ he mused, and then internally slapped himself. What had he learnt from Aomine? Never judge a person by how they looked! This guy must really be something if he was considered a part of the Generation of Miracles.

"I'm Kise, I guess you guys already know me," Kise laughed. "I'm a member of the Generation of Miracles, and I also model in my free time!"

As if on cue, a bunch of squealing girls popped up with pens and books, pushing Kise to the corner of the gym.

"Kise, can I have your autograph?"

"Kise, will you sign my arm?"

"Kise, will you kiss my book?"

The idiot happily obliged them all, and Taiga watched in irritation as the fangirls kept coming. Sometime in the middle of this whole debacle, Izuki had taken permission from Coach to slip out and take a call – apparently it was some mystery caller who had been bothering him for a while.

"Are you done yet?" he asked finally.

Kise nodded, signing the last autograph. "Mhm! Sorry to keep you all waiting," he added with a megawatt smile.

"What are you here for?" Riko asked, hands on her hips. "You're eating into our practice time, you know."

Kise laughed and tried to take a step forward.

And then started crying.

Seirin stared collectively at the blonde, who was weeping like it was the end of the world.

 _…what?!_ was the thought running unanimously throughout all their brains.

Just then, Izuki stepped back inside the gym, putting his phone away quickly with a furious expression on his face. The anger disappeared when he saw Kise, replaced by a deadpan expression.

"What the fuck?" he asked flatly. "I wasn't aware we were shooting a drama in here. Why are you crying, blondie?"

"I can't move my legs," Kise wept.

"Please let me hit him," Hyūga murmured to the team at large. They all snickered – even Mitobe smiled, and Koganei translated loudly, "He's rolling over laughing!"

Kise started crying even more.

Aomine sighed, a put-upon sound, and walked over to Kise, asking, "What do you want with us, Kise? Get out if you're just here to annoy me."

"I came to see you, Aominecchi." Kise said brightly.

The sound of jaws dropping could almost be _heard_ in the gym.

* * *

 **Hi, guys! So, I'm back! Yikes, it's been long, hasn't it? My results are out tomorrow, and I'm super nervous *sweats* but overall, I think I did pretty well! I've been writing Chapter 7 too, so I think y'all can expect an update by tomorrow ;) I've taken down the note since it's pretty irrelevant now XD I thank you all for your heartfelt wishes, it was so nice to hear from you and your concern for me *hugs you all and gives chocolate cookies***

 **Also, FOURTH WALL BREAKING YEEE I love doing that it's just so freakin' hilarious**

 **Responding to the reviews:**

 _ **Chapter 5:**_

 **JayMyBoy: Dude, first off - you are a very faithful reviewer! Thank you so much for all the support :D Haha, now I can't stop imagining Midorima forced to dress as a daikon/carrot for Halloween! I said vegetable because Daiki hasn't seen him in Shūtoku's jersey yet ;) I'm glad you liked the update!**

 **YukinaAiko: The same goes for you! Since you said you don't normally review, I'm very very shook and happy that you are liking this fic enough to leave me your thoughts! Please continue to do so, I'll never fail to respond! 3 I'm super happy you enjoyed the chapter! Unfortunately Kuroko won't be showing up for a little while, because now the _real_ story is kicking off. Kise has finally come over and now we get started with the hellride that is going to be this story! Also, you were right, so chapter is dedicated to you ;D**

 _ **Chapter 6:**_

 **JayMyBoy: *puts my hand to my chest* Thank you! We'll know tomorrow XD**

 **nicoleAnE: gnnnng thank youuuuu! I'm so happy you're enjoying it so far, hope you liked this chapter :D your concern is so cute and heartwarming and I made sure to follow your advice ;) I don't think I have ever drunk so much water in my life, lmao. Finals went pretty well, crossing fingers that I've got good grades XDD**

 **Please do leave a review if you enjoyed, and tell me what you liked! And if there are any spelling/grammar mistakes, or if you have any questions, please tell me and ask away, I'm always open to questions and suggestions 3**

 **Love y'all,**

 **Ceru**


	7. Ours To Protect

**Chapter Seven - Ours To Protect**

* * *

"I came to see Aominecchi."

Taiga instantly wanted to punch him. Who did he think he was to refer so familiarly to Aomine?! They didn't even know each other!

"For what?" Aomine's tone was rough and cold, and Taiga felt a little burst of spiteful happiness within him.

 _Wait, what? Why am I happy that Aomine's being rude to Kise?_

"Come on, Aominecchi!" Kise whined, hanging off the slightly shorter boy's arm. "I had an offer for you."

Aomine rolled his eyes. "Don't want to hear it."

Kise ignored him completely and went on, "Come join us at Kaijō. We can be the best with your passing ability! You pass to me and we'll win so easily, the other teams won't even score a single point!"

Taiga felt a chill run down his spine. How did Kise know about Aomine's ability?!

 _Maybe he's not as unnoticed as he thought…_

The notion itself brought unease to Taiga's mind. Aomine was their trump card, their Invisible Boy. If he and his skills were well-known, other teams could easily come up with countermeasures, and it would pretty much spell disaster for Seirin.

"No. Go die." Aomine spoke curtly, shoving Kise away.

"Come on, Aominecchi!" Kise whined. "I want to be your light like Ku-"

"That's _enough_!" Aomine shouted, fury in his eyes. "I have a new light already. Just get out if that's all you have to say."

Kise flinched. "I was just-"

" _Go_." Aomine hissed, pointing towards the door. "Like Coach said. You're disturbing our practice time."

" _She's_ your coach? A girl?" Kise asked in contemptuous surprise.

Hyūga shook visibly, his fury barely contained. "Let me at him," he hissed at Izuki, who had his arms wrapped around Hyūga's waist to prevent him from lunging at Kise.

"Riko can take care of herself. She won't want you interfering." Izuki murmured back. "Calm down, okay? You acting all macho and trying to protect her will just make her madder."

Hyūga simmered down a little, slumping so his weight rested almost fully on Izuki, and muttered darkly, "You better be right."

And indeed, Riko was glaring daggers at Kise, toying with her whistle. "So a _girl_ can't do just as well as a boy? A _girl_ can't devise training regimes that are as good as any male coach? Just because I'm female, I can't match up? How old-fashioned. Being in the modelling industry, I might have thought you were more progressive, Kise," she commented, a dark hint to her tone.

"I didn't mean it like that," Kise stammered.

Riko smiled. "Good."

"Aominecchi, your coach is scary…"

"Shut up!" Aomine whacked him on the head. "Do you have anything else to say?"

Kise's eyes took on a calculating gleam as he looked over the Seirin team, eyes finally settling on Taiga, who met his gaze with equal determination.

"You must be Aominecchi's new light."

"I am," Taiga answered curtly. "What do you want?" He was honestly getting tired of asking that question. Kise was beating about the bush so much his head hurt.

Kise smiled, and it wasn't the pretty smile that had had girls all over him. It was something cold and cunning, much like a fox.

"Why don't we play some basketball?" he suggested mildly. "One on one? To see how our skills… match up."

Now Taiga wasn't exactly the sharpest crayon in the box, but comparing skills in basketball? That he understood.

He felt a grin coming on. "Sounds great."

Kise shucked off his blazer, hanging it up on a hook on the wall, and got into position. Taiga faced him, dribbling the ball slowly as he watched for an opening in the blonde boy's defence.

He waited with bated breath for Kise's gaze to slip, shifting his feet gently. Hoping it would serve as a small distraction –

 _There!_ Kise's eyes flicked briefly to Taiga's legs, but it was enough.

Taiga moved fluidly, slipping around the other and making a beeline for the hoop. He plunged the ball into the basket and smiled victoriously.

"If this is all you so-called Miracles have to offer, I guess it's going to be easy to beat you,"

Kise smirked and got into position again, this time facing Taiga, whose back was to the hoop.

"I don't think so," he sang lightly, eyes locked on Taiga's red gaze.

Then he shifted his feet ever so slightly.

Taiga's eyes flew to track the movement, losing sight of Kise for a split millisecond – but it was enough.

Kise flicked the basketball out of his grasp, slipped around him and dunked, hard _._ Using the exact same motions that Taiga had.

In short, he'd copied Taiga's move with _just one look_.

"Whoa," came a faint murmur from Furihata.

"That's crazy," whispered Kawahara.

Kise stood back, wearing a discontent expression. "Nothing great," he commented. "I guess I just wasted my time."

He picked up his blazer and walked out, slamming the doors shut behind him.

Taiga stared after Kise in utter disbelief.

* * *

" _His_ time? _Kagami_ wasted _his_ time?" Riko hissed furiously, anger bubbling within her like lava. "He gets to waltz in, manhandle Aomine, insult me, challenge our ace and then have the guts to say he wasted his time?!"

"He's an asshole, don't let it get you down," said Izuki, clapping a hand on her shoulder. He rolled his eyes and continued, "Kids like those are the worst, I swear."

"I know you'll come up with some fitting revenge," added Hyūga, grinning at her as he packed his bag – Kise had stayed for almost all of their remaining practice time, and they had only been able to run a few more drills before the day ended. "You shouldn't let it go, and you won't."

Riko's heart warmed a little. Her boys were so sweet.

"Of course I won't," she replied, thoughts already swirling in her head. "I have no plans of letting that little shit off scot-free."

"What did the rest of you think of him?" Hyūga asked the team at large.

Tsuchida shook his head, pressing his lips together. "He can't just walk in here and insult our coach. That's just not done."

"Agreed!" Koganei chirped, and Mitobe nodded silently. Koganei translated, "He says Tsuchida's right!"

The rest of the team face-palmed. "It's obvious," muttered Hyūga, but said nothing more.

"However skilled he might be, that's no reason to act like that," put in Fukuda, and Kawahara hummed in agreement.

Izuki said thoughtfully, "He's basically a combination of me, Aya and Mai when we all go into brat mode at the same time and decide to brain the shit out of each other with pillows."

They all stifled a snicker at that one.

"Yeah, I'm not overly impressed by Mr. Pretty Cure," Kagami said with a shrug. "He's a bit extra."

" _Pretty Cure?"_ wheezed Hyūga, clutching his sides. "Fucking gold, Kagami. _Gold._ " The rest of Seirin was in splits too.

Aomine snorted. "Say that when he clings to you on a daily basis."

It almost sounded like he _knew_ Kise.

Riko blinked, remembering something she'd forgotten.

"That's right! Aomine, you're from Teikō, aren't you? Tell me, do you know any of their weaknesses?" she asked excitedly.

Aomine's eyes flew wide. "I – I don't want to talk – about it," he muttered lamely.

Kagami choked. "You went to the same school as the Generation of Miracles?!" he asked in shock.

The rest of Seirin stared at Aomine, who shifted uneasily.

"I – yeah," he admitted. "I was… their phantom sixth man."

Riko wanted to smack herself in the head. Of course, with his ability – why hadn't she seen it before?!

The first-years gaped, save for Kagami, who went up to Aomine and asked with a grin, "So you can tell me how they play?"

Aomine flinched. "I – I-," he stammered weakly.

And Riko saw with a jolt that there were _tears_ in his eyes.

"Aomine," Tsuchida said softly, stepping up to him and putting a hand on his back. "It's all right. You don't have to think about it. If it was something bad that happened, related to that team, remember that that's not your team anymore. We are. And we're going to do our best to protect you and keep you safe and happy, because you're ours now."

Aomine swallowed thickly. "No one's ever said something like that before," he hiccupped.

Tsuchida said nothing, only rubbed his back comfortingly.

Slowly, Kagami wrapped an arm around Aomine's waist and pulled him close in an awkward side hug. Then was Furihata, coming up and slipping his arms around Aomine's hips. The rest of Seirin (including Riko) gradually followed, ending up in a huge tangle of limbs, Aomine in the centre of a giant hug.

When they finally dispersed, Aomine rubbed at his eyes and said quietly, "I think I'm going to tell you a little bit now. Not everything – I'm not ready for that," he added quickly. "But a little."

"Are you sure?" asked Riko, still a little concerned.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Okay, then." Izuki said, gesturing to Aomine. "Go on."

* * *

Daiki was honestly a little surprised at himself.

He was about to break his rule about not trusting anyone and tell them the truth – that he came from Teikō, that he'd played on the same team as Seijūrō Akashi and Tetsuya Kuroko, about his motives, his reasons for coming to Seirin.

And he was completely okay with it, he realised. Not like a week ago, where he'd been so mistrusting and closed-off. Then, he hadn't trusted any of them – hadn't wanted to share that piece of himself.

But now? Daiki could feel it – feel that they weren't like Teikō. Feel that they really did care about _him_ and not his basketball. About who Daiki _was_ , the pains he'd gone through, the joys he'd experienced, the fear he'd faced.

So he took a deep breath, gaining an encouraging look from Riko, and began.

"I sucked a lot at basketball when I started out."

"Well, no shit," Kagami snorted, but fell silent when a glare courtesy of Hyūga was thrown his way.

Daiki ignored him and continued. "But I loved it – _God_ , I loved it." A smile made its way onto his face as he spoke. "At the time, my parents were going through some issues, and basketball was the only thing that really freed me. I would play as often as I could, but I never got any better."

"So how did you get onto the Teikō team?" asked Furihata curiously.

"I was accepted onto the third string – the reserves for the bench players. Only to be played unless there was no other way to go about things. One day, I was practicing in the third-string gyms after everyone else had gone home, when someone offered me the chance of a lifetime." He'd glossed over a lot in the middle, but he didn't need to think about _him_ now. That would just make him cry again. "To hone my skill in going unnoticed, neglecting learning how to shoot, dribble, run – to become a passing specialist, and join the first string as their trump card."

"Let me guess, someone was Akashi?" Izuki asked.

Daiki frowned. "…Yeah."

How had he known? Granted, Akashi was known as Teikō's captain… but Nijimura had been the captain before him, when Daiki was accepted into the first string. There was something off about this…

He shook his head – he could think on it later – and went on, "I got to know everyone pretty well. Murasakibara and his love for snacks, Kise and his exuberance, Akashi and his discipline but willingness to have fun, Midorima and his uptight kindness…" He deliberately left out one, not wanting to relive it.

"And Kuroko?" Kagami asked.

"That's not important," Daiki dismissed, trying to hold back the wave of emotion that crashed into him again. He swallowed and continued, "They were good. So good, amazingly good. And in the middle of our second year… their talents all blossomed. They changed, forgetting the meaning of teamwork – forgetting the meaning of hard work, the feeling of pride that it brought when it came to fruition. They started skipping practice, not giving their all in games, having _fun_ destroying their opponents without even trying… they left it all behind. Left the meaning of my existence behind. And that's why I want to teach them that again, teach them what it means to work and work and finally win after so much effort – I have a point to prove to those Miracles." he finished savagely.

"Aomine, can I just say this?" Furihata looked a little nervous.

Daiki eyed him for a minute. "…sure?"

Furihata took a breath before spitting out, "That sounded really cool, like an anime protagonist."

Daiki wasn't sure whether to thank him or be annoyed. On one hand, it was nice someone thought him to be cool – but on the other, anime protagonist? Really?!

Seirin burst into collective laughter at Furihata's comment, and Daiki found himself laughing along with them. A feeling he hadn't felt in over a year blossomed in his chest, and he realised what it was only after a few minutes.

 _The feeling of being at home._

* * *

 **Okay, wow. This chapter did** _ **not**_ **go how I expected at all, XD. I feel like it was kinda filler-ish, didn't help much with my plot development? Idk man, I hadn't planned the whole emotional bit with Daiki spilling some of his secrets to the team, and *spoilers for next chapter* a certain strange subplot involving a mysterious caller is developing of its own volition… I have no idea what is happening lmao. But I guess Daiki becoming more open to his teammates may help them in future XD**

 **Guess what's coming in the next two chapters? And another Miracle is going to appear pretty soon! Whoever guesses both right gets a chapter dedication and a chocolate chip cookie from my stash, whoever guesses one gets a cookie only ;)**

 **Update on my results because y'all were so nice and wished me so well – I came in top of my class and grade! I got a 91% out of 100%, so we good fam! And I can finally write more and update without any worry :heart:**

 **Responding to the reviews…**

 **JayMyBoy: Aaa, thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! …wait, that was from a blooper? I thought it was canon, lol, I really need to get my head on right XD Aomine, poor baby, he's used to being glomped by Kise the overexcited hug bunny – who was kind of a bitch this chapter tbh. Fujimaki often said that Kise is colder and more calculating than the anime shows him to be, and I wanted to show that side of him :D**

 **Ok y'all, confession time – I have a bunch of KNB fics posted on Ao3 that I haven't on here, should I post? One is AoKise, the other three are Izuki/Hyūga because those two really deserve more content.**

 **Please leave me a review, favourite and follow if you enjoyed the chapter and the direction the story is taking! I love and accept constructive criticism. Flames will be used as comedy material in family gatherings :D**

 **Love, Ceru**


	8. If You Can't Find A Way, Make One

**Chapter Eight – If You Can't Find A Way, Make One**

* * *

"How goes it?" the woman asked, tapping scarlet nails on the wooden table. Her lipsticked mouth was pursed in a small frown.

"I haven't made any progress. No matter how many times I call, he refuses to listen. He's used some rather… choice words with me as well. I suspect he's still angry." sighed the man sitting opposite her.

"It's only natural," she replied with a hint of a smile. "Give it time. Keep calling, and maybe you will wear him down into at least talking to you for longer than fifteen seconds."

She stood up, smoothing her pink pencil skirt and blazer down, and made her way to the door, pausing with a hand on the doorknob.

"And, Mr. Shibuya?"

"Yes, ma'am?" His head snapped up, suddenly wary.

She smiled, a red slash across her pale face, and brushed a strand of ash-blonde hair out of her eyes. "You know what will happen if you don't accomplish this task."

He gulped at the thought. "Yes, ma'am," he answered.

"Good." And with that, she left the room, closing the door behind her.

He shivered despite the stifling heat of the darkened room and pulled out his phone, scrolling through his list of recent calls. He stopped at one, thumb hovering over the name.

 _Shun (3)_

He hit the green button and held the phone up to his ear, the ringing only making him more anxious.

 _This had better work, or else I'm dead…_

* * *

"I think I'm going to hit the sack early, Mom." Daiki informed her as he dried his plate, having scrubbed it clean.

"Are you all right?" Daria asked with a frown. "You've been going to bed a whole hour earlier these days. And you've actually been doing your homework."

"I'm not a retard, Mom," he grumbled, rising to the bait easily. "I have to do it if I want to stay on the team."

Daria made an 'oh' sound as she continued to put away dishes. "Of course, it's for basketball. How could I ever have thought you'd work willingly for anything else?" she teased playfully, ruffling her son's hair. "All right, then. Your brain must naturally be tired after thinking so hard. Good night, honey."

Daiki ignored the jibe this time and muttered a "Good night, Mom."

He hadn't been lying. Well, not completely. You needed to pass to stay on the team, which Daiki was just barely doing. But the homework also helped him take his mind off things – things which he did not want to think about, now or ever. The dull and boring work was soothing, in a way.

 _He'd be proud_ , flashed over Daiki's brain, and he groaned, smacking his forehead with his hand. Of course, his stupid head would link even the most boring thing in the world to his worst memories.

He flopped down onto his bed, drawing the covers up to his chin and turning out the light. Still, sleep did not come, as he had known it wouldn't. His stomach turned uncomfortably in that way it does when you can't stop thinking about something you don't want to.

" _Ow! That was cold," Daiki shrieks, jumping a mile high._

" _Sorry, Aomine," shrugs the small boy behind him. "But you were being silly. You can't quit – we need you. I need you," he adds, extending a hand._

 _Daiki feels his heart warm, and his lips twitch up into a small smile._

" _Okay," he agrees instantly. "I won't quit if you need me."_

 _Need me…_ Daiki thought bitterly. What a lie.

"You never needed me. I was the fool who needed you." he spat out, hoping that saying it out loud would at least give him a little bit of closure.

These memories had been rising to the surface almost constantly since the incident with Kise a few days ago, all his hard work in repressing them gone. Daiki had to admit; he was still a little shaken from seeing his old teammate again. Kise had always been touchy-feely, and that kind of contact brought back the worst memories.

Daiki closed his eyes, filling his head with images of his parents and his baby cousins. It worked for a little while, acting as a barrier for all the thoughts he didn't want to relive until he fell into a restless sleep.

As he dreamed, visions of the not-so-distant past drifted to the surface.

" _It's kind of funny, to be honest."_

" _What's funny? I don't get it."_

" _Even though you're so tiny, you're so much better at basketball than I am, and I'm huge."_

" _It's not size that matters, you know. Besides, I think Daiki is amazing at basketball in his own way."_

 _The shorter reaches up, standing on his tiptoes, to plant a kiss on his nose. Daiki gladly obliges, bending so he can reach._

" _I love you," he blurts suddenly._

 _The other smiles._

" _I love you too,"_

Daiki's face was wet when his eyes shot open.

He rubbed messily at the tears he'd shed while he was asleep, disgusted with himself for being so weak. Goddamn feelings… he just _had_ to remember that incident, didn't he? It just _had_ to be so painful, didn't it?

 _Why?_ he asked himself hopelessly, knowing he'd receive no answer. _Why am I still so hung up on you? Why do I still care so much to cry over you, you who left me in the dust without even looking back?_

 _Why do I still let you hurt me so much?_

"Daiki? Are you in here?" called a familiar voice, and a head he hadn't seen in over a year poked itself inside his room.

Daiki blinked groggily, wiping the last of his sticky tears away, and shot up in bed, an excited smile on his face. He wasn't sleepy anymore – hell, he couldn't think of anything bad anymore. His father was home after almost a year away in India!

"Dad," he grinned, flicking the lights on to get a proper look at the man. "You're back!"

Daisuke Aomine smiled at his son. "Did you forget I was coming home today?"

Daiki blushed and looked away. "…maybe,"

Daisuke put a hand to his chest. "I'm hurt, Daiki."

"As if," retorted Daiki, embarrassment gone. "You're so extra. Mom's bang on when she calls you a drama queen."

Daisuke smiled once, and then all happiness vanished from his face, replaced by a serious expression. "You've been crying," he noted calmly.

Daiki froze. He'd been sure to wipe his tears away – how did his dad know?

"I can see the tracks on your face," Daisuke answered the unspoken question. "Daiki – I heard something happened with your friends, and that boy you were seeing. Is that why you were crying?"

Daiki looked away, ashamed. "No," he mumbled. A boy of his age shouldn't be weeping over anything.

"It's okay to feel things," Daisuke told his son kindly, ruffling Daiki's hair. "I know everything. Your mother told me."

Daiki collapsed against his pillows and stared up at his ceiling. "I just-"

Daisuke lifted his son's chin so Daiki was looking into blue eyes, the same ones he'd inherited. "Hey, what did I just say? _It's okay_ ," he emphasised. "It'll always hurt somewhere in there-" jabbing Daiki's chest with a finger, "-but it will keep hurting less with time. And it's all right to be hurt. You deserve to be sad and angry after what happened. But you have to find a way to move on, Daiki. And I believe your new teammates could be it, if you let them. Trusting again after you've been hurt once is the hardest thing, but it gets easier if you try. What do I always say to you?"

Daiki murmured the familiar words a little grudgingly. "If you can't find a way, make one."

His father nodded. "Exactly. So, try making Seirin your way to getting over things. Make Seirin your salvation."

"But Dad – I need to beat _them_." Daiki spat the last word with particular venom. "I need to show them what hard work like I have to put in so often really means. What teamwork means. What it means to play to the strengths of others and allow them to do so for you. If I move on, how does that remain my goal?"

Daisuke smiled mysteriously. "I never said you don't need to teach them that. Just don't think of it as a sort of revenge, or attach any pain or hurt to it. Think of them as a normal opponent you need to beat. They are not your team anymore – Seirin is. And that Tiger boy," – Daiki stifled a snort – "he might well be the person who can help you the most, Daiki."

Daiki swallowed. His father's advice seemed so sound, but would he be able to put it into practice? Letting go looked so enticing; yet, what if it was not as easy as it sounded?

"It's not." Daisuke said, and Daiki realised he'd voiced his thoughts out loud. "But everything heals, with time." He got up, bed creaking under his weight, and flicked off the light.

"It's late, Daiki. Sleep well. I'll tell you all about India the day after tomorrow – it's a Saturday and you're off school."

Daiki nodded, tiredness crashing into him like a wave. "G'night, Dad," he mumbled sleepily, the pit in his tummy suddenly gone, and lay down, falling asleep almost as soon as he laid his head on the pillow.

* * *

Friday morning came all too quickly for Riko's liking. She would have liked to sleep a little more, but alas, school.

All her laziness disappeared the instant she remembered a certain phone call she had to make. Hastily grabbing her cell off the bedside table, she typed in the number she had procured with much difficulty a few days ago and held it up to her ear.

"Hello, Yukio Kasamatsu speaking in place of Takeuchi," said a male voice.

"Hi, I'm calling on behalf of Seirin High," she answered. "I'm-"

"You're a girl?!" Kasamatsu's voice had shot up two pitches. "I – uh – sorry – um, do you – erm,"

Riko sighed. Useless.

"Could you give it to someone?" she asked sharply. "Someone who can actually _talk_ to a girl without losing it completely?"

"Uh – uh, sorry, yeah," Kasamatsu stuttered, and Riko heard the phone change hands.

"Hi, I'm Kobori, sorry for Kasamatsu. He can't handle girls. Are you Seirin's manager?" asked a new voice.

"No! I'm the coach," Riko shrieked. This boy was just like his damn underclassman, wasn't he?

"Uh, okay. Is there something you wanted with our coach?"

"Yes, I would like to speak to him." she answered tightly.

"For what reason?" Kobori asked.

"You're a player, I believe?" she shot back.

"Yes."

"Then it doesn't concern you. _May I please speak to Genta Takeuchi?!"_ Riko practically yelled in frustration, phone clutched in a death grip.

"Sorry about that, my team's captain is a bit… volatile," spoke a new, deeper voice, and some of the tension in Riko's body relieved itself. "I'm Genta Takeuchi, how may I help you? You said you were Seirin's coach?"

"Yes, Riko Aida." She figured dropping her family name couldn't hurt, and smiled in satisfaction at the small intake of breath she heard on the other end of the line. "I wanted to know if we could arrange a practice match on Sunday – that is, this Sunday. The day after tomorrow."

"Of course." Takeuchi's neutral voice betrayed nothing. "I think that's possible, though it does come on rather short notice."

"I'm sorry about that. It's just that one of your players – a Ryōta Kise, I believe? – showed up at our school yesterday and interrupted our practice. And we thought, what better way to make that lost time up than a practice match against Kise's school?"

"Kise interrupted your practice? Hold on for a minute, please, Miss Riko."

Riko could distantly hear Takeuchi yelling, " _Kise, get your sorry ass here right now!_ "

She smirked. A practice match versus a top school, Kaijō, _and_ that shit Kise getting scolded by his coach? It really was a good morning.

"Ah, yes." Takeuchi's voice shook her back to reality, and Riko answered, "I'm here."

"If we are to have a match, we might hold it here. Since Seirin _is_ a new school."

Riko ground her teeth at the obvious contempt in the other coach's words, but said nothing. Takeuchi went on, "Of course, if you would like to host, there really is no problem."

"No, that's fine," Riko forced herself to say. "We can come to Kaijō."

The planning went quickly enough after that, both deciding unanimously on a morning match – the players would be well-rested and fighting fit.

Riko set down her phone in satisfaction, noting that she still had twenty minutes to leave for school. Dressing quickly and shoving some rice down her throat, she thanked the gods for short hair being easy to comb and style. She yelled a goodbye to Kagetora and stepped out.

Akari, ash-blonde hair braided messily, was waiting for her on her motorbike, and Riko smiled at her girlfriend before noticing the sober look on her face.

"Akari?" she asked in concern. "What's wrong?"

"My mother's acting strange again," Akari said grimly. "And I need your help to find out what it is. Last time, she went into jail for two weeks – this time, it might be worse."

Riko's eyes widened. "After school?" she proposed quickly.

Akari nodded. "Get on. I'll tell you what I have so far on the way."

Riko climbed onto her girlfriend's motorcycle and clung to Akari, listening closely to what she had to say, fear crawling up her spine at each word.

* * *

Junpei watched his boyfriend throw his phone at the wall and scream in frustration.

"I just don't get why he won't _stop_!" Shun shouted angrily. "I think I'm going to break my phone and not get a new one."

Junpei sighed through his nose. "That's pointless. Just block the damn number, Shun," He didn't understand why Shun hadn't already.

"That's the thing. I can't. There's no block button." Shun picked up the phone and showed him the number.

Junpei frowned. "You should tell your mother."

"I can't. She's already so swamped at work, and this will just add more pressure to it all." Shun pocketed his phone and grabbed his duffle bag, walking towards the gym. "I'll just ignore every call from now."

Junpei gave him a Look. "That's what you've been doing anyway."

Shun ignored it, saying, "We'll be late for practice if we don't go now. Today's the only day we'll get extra time. Come on!"

Junpei followed helplessly, worry for his boyfriend churning in his stomach. If that man got hold of Shun, things were guaranteed to take a bad turn.

He couldn't stand to think of what would happen.

* * *

Daiki was glad that they'd only had two morning classes today. Something about organising a school festival – he honestly didn't care. It meant more practice time, which was the only thing that mattered.

"I hope they haven't done anything to my banner," Izuki said, looking up worriedly at the main building as the team walked to the gym.

Hyūga smacked the back of his head. "Think about basketball now! Idiot. Don't worry, I hid it safely," he added.

Izuki grinned. "You're the best, Junpei."

"Did you ever find out who that caller was?" Riko asked. "He called twice, right?

Izuki shook his head. "No. I can't seem to block him either, so I'm just going to ignore any calls from that number. I've set a different ringtone so I know it's him when he calls."

Riko 'ahh'ed, throwing open the gym doors and striding in. "I take it he won't disturb our practice anymore, then," she stated. "That's good. Because on Sunday, we have a friendly match against Kaijō."

The whole team stared at her. Daiki in particular choked at the thought of seeing Kise again, then remembered his father's advice and tried to compose himself.

"We… what?" Hyūga asked, finally finding his voice.

Riko grinned and repeated herself. "We have a practice match against Kaijō on Sunday. So let's be prepared! All of you, run drills!" she commanded.

Everyone complied instantly, lining up to start the drills. The practice was long and rigorous, but worth it in Daiki's opinion. By the fourteenth drill, the familiar burn in his muscles helped take his mind off things and put them on certain other things, like the way Kagami's powerful arms strained against his black shirt. The idiot looked good in black, Daiki thought briefly, then mentally slapped himself. He wasn't going to go around catching the feelings bug for _Kagami,_ of all the people!

His face was still red when he completed his fifteenth drill and moved on to the sixteenth.

* * *

Saturday flew by, and before Taiga knew it, he and the rest of Seirin were all piling onto the bus to travel to Kaijō High, all the way in Kanagawa. Taiga headed straight for the back, aiming to bag a seat with Furihata (the quietest first-year, who was honestly an angel), but was held back by Riko.

"You and Aomine should sit together," she said sweetly.

"For an hour?!" Taiga balked.

"Go," Riko nodded at the seat up front, which was already occupied by Aomine. The blue-haired idiot had his head against the glass window and – he was _asleep_. Just great.

Taiga went, grumbling all the way. He sat down roughly next to Aomine, making himself comfortable in what little room the taller boy had left him. It was honestly a crime – Aomine had such a perfect basketball body, but he _sucked so much_.

Taiga took another look at his sleeping seatmate, noting that the frown Aomine perpetually wore when awake had smoothed out into a soft, calm expression, lips slightly upturned.

 _He looks so peaceful. If he always looked – and acted – like this, he wouldn't get into half the fights he does,_ Taiga thought, and scoffed at himself immediately. What was he, Aomine's mother?

Taiga jumped and grabbed hold of the supporting bar as the engines of the bus jolted to life. Aomine's blue eyes snapped open, and he sat up immediately, hand flying to the plastic handle above the window.

"Why are you sitting here?" he mumbled to Taiga out of the corner of his mouth.

"Coach told me to," Taiga grumbled back, equally disgruntled by their situation.

"Why does it have to be _you_?" Aomine whined.

"Well, it's not like I want to do this either! But I like being alive, so I listen to the coach," Taiga hissed furiously.

A few minutes later, Koganei mused, "Do you think cats are better than dogs?"

And a perfect babel broke out. Izuki, Aomine and Kawahara were staunchly on the dogs' side, whereas Taiga, being a cat person and deathly afraid of those beasts called 'dogs', along with Furihata and Koganei, argued for cats. Riko chimed in with her two cents, adding that she preferred dogs because they were "much more well-behaved than cats."

"All of you shut up right now or I'll bite you to death!" screamed Hyūga finally, tiring of the noise.

"Bite me to death?!" Taiga screeched, thoroughly weirded out.

They all fell silent, except for Izuki, who eyed Hyūga up and down and finally commented, "Looks like someone's been watching too much of Reborn. I should've hidden those DVDs ages ago."

" _Shun,_ I said SHUT UP!" Hyūga shouted at his boyfriend.

Izuki stuck out his tongue. "Why don't you make me?" he asked suggestively.

Hyūga went a million shades of red. "Just – aagh!"

Riko high-fived Izuki. "I'm going to take some photographs," she said with an evil grin.

"NO!" Hyūga shrieked like a five-year-old girl.

Taiga couldn't help but burst into raucous laughter along with Aomine and the rest of the team.

Really, these people were something else.

But he kind of liked it.

* * *

 **So, y'all may have noticed, but we now have a cover for the fic! It was done by the amazing maxkiki on Tumblr! I really love it a lot and I'm so happy they did it for me :D It's awesome, isn't it? I'm just sort of vibrating with happiness right now, it's so** _ **goooood!**_

 **Responding to the reviews:**

 **JayMyBoy: Thank you for reviewing! Well, you were right and you get a cookie for the right guess ;) Midorima will have a scene next chapter, just before the practice game. If I were following the anime/manga, he'd only come up** _ **after**_ **the game, but I love Mido-baby too much XD. I've posted two of the stories! Enjoy them :)**


	9. Hit It Till It Breaks

**Chapter Nine – If You're Going To Hit It, Hit It Till It Breaks**

* * *

An hour, thirty-six minutes and three puke stops (kind courtesy of Furihata) later, Seirin had finally – _finally!_ – reached Kaijō.

And _damn_ , were they glad for it.

"My legs ache," moaned Hyūga. Mitobe winced in sympathy, massaging his own neck (he'd fallen asleep on Koganei's shoulder and gotten a crick in his neck).

Taiga and Aomine shared a smirk. The perks of being in the front seat were that you got unlimited leg room.

Izuki snorted at his boyfriend. "Your own fault for being so tall." His eyes lit up at the almost-rhyme, and he began to mutter, "Fault… tall… It's your own fault if you fall by being so tall! That's a good one!"

"No it's not," chorused Seirin collectively.

Taiga had ended up sleeping only four hours last night due to excitement, so he had welcomed the opportunity to nap on the bus. Aomine, thankfully, did not snore, and had had the surprisingly smart idea of placing his duffle bag between their heads so both could use it as a pillow without disturbing the other.

Needless to say, it'd worked, and Taiga now felt a lot better than he had this morning. Amazing what a one-hour-fifteen-minute nap could do for your psyche.

He cracked his shoulders as they walked, sticking to the back of the group so he could be alone with his thoughts – mainly, on what nonsense his mother had been bothering him about last night; it had really creeped him out. Somehow, Aomine ended up marching glumly beside him, hanging back as far as he could from the rest of the team.

Taiga took one look at Seirin's gloomy trump card and frowned. Aomine's eyebrows were knitted into his usual frown, but his mouth was drawn into a pinched state as if he were holding something back, and his eyes were brimming with a mix of strange emotions Taiga couldn't quite identify.

 _Something's not right – well, no shit, Taiga. Idiot won't play properly if I don't make sure he's ready for the game mentally. I should ask._

And so, following his own – extremely wise, by the way, he liked credit where credit was due – advice, Taiga opened his mouth and asked Aomine, "So what's got your panties in a bunch?"

"The hell, dude?" Aomine frowned deeper (if that was possible) and shuffled sideways, away from Taiga, but still far behind the rest of Seirin.

Taiga shuffled closer to him and thumped him harshly on the back, eliciting a surprised wheeze which he might or might not have been aiming to receive as a response. All right, so sue him for wanting to annoy Aomine!

"Idiot," he rasped quietly, making sure no one else could hear. "You need to be in top mental form for the game. If you told someone what's bothering you, maybe they could help. Dumbass."

Aomine eyed him suspiciously, then looked away and exhaled, a tired puff of breath. "Personal crap."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock," Taiga said impatiently. "Come on, you stupid lunk, what's got you so depressed?"

"I'm not depressed," Aomine bit out angrily, staring at his shoes as they continued to walk. "I'm just – I'm just-"

"Just what?" Taiga pressed, a little gentler this time.

"Just… him." Aomine sighed wearily. "Kise. He's going to jump on me as soon as I enter and probably, like, knock me out or something. And all that shit that happened, last year… facing him is going to be a little hard on me, y'know?"

"Geez," was all Taiga could think to say, eyebrows raised high. That was –

…actually probably what he should've expected, but he wasn't exactly some genius, okay?!

Aomine snorted. "Geez is right. Kise's a bit of an ass."

"Well, he's a fine piece of ass," Taiga commented before realising what he'd said and going redder than his hair. To his surprise, Aomine didn't take the chance to tease him, just rolled his eyes.

"Every guy or girl's thought that at some point. You definitely wouldn't be the first. Or the last," he muttered, almost bitterly, and speeded up his pace.

Taiga matched his strides easily enough, rolling his eyes at how childish Aomine was being. "Honestly, dude, just because you don't like the guy doesn't make him any less attractive. He's definitely an asshole, though," he added to placate Aomine (and also to calm his brains, which were furious at the thought that he even implied a jerk like Kise was good-looking).

"Ass- _hoe_ , more like," Aomine snickered, bouncing back almost immediately. The heaviness in his eyes had receded if not disappeared completely, but that was more than Taiga had hoped for, so he shut up and didn't push the topic further. "Did you know he's had, like, eight boyfriends? And guess what – he bottomed for _all of them_."

"Sure about that? Because I thought he topped you," Taiga teased.

"'Course not, we never even dated!" Aomine looked absolutely affronted. "Not to say he didn't try, I mean, look at me-" he gestured at himself smugly and Taiga snickered, "-but I was never really interested in him." The sadness threatened to enter his eyes again, and Taiga sensed danger.

Luckily, someone else butted in before he could change the topic.

" _AOMINECCHI_!" shrieked Kise, flinging himself at Aomine, who sidestepped coolly and allowed the pretty-boy model to fall flat on his face in the most comic manner ever. The Seirin team couldn't help but snicker loudly, even the usually kind Mitobe smiling a little… psychotically, was the only word.

 _Overprotective much_ , thought Taiga, sweating a little. He definitely wouldn't want to get on Mitobe's bad side.

* * *

Daiki watched Kise peel himself off the ground, brushing off mud from his blonde hair and pouting, brown eyes glistening with fake tears.

"That's so _mean_ , Aominecchi," he whined.

Daiki rolled his eyes. "Don't act like you're so innocent. I know what you are."

Kise's eyes hardened slightly, a cold glint coming into them. "Ahh, I suppose you do. After all, Aominecchi _is_ the one person who really knows Kise."

Daiki's lips thinned, but before he could come back with a sassy retort a black-socked foot hit the back of Kise's head harshly.

" _Kasamatsu!_ " howled Kise, collapsing dramatically to the ground as tears flowed down his cheeks, anime-style. "That _hurt_!"

The stocky boy standing above Kise's fallen form nodded shortly, mouth a grim line. "It was _meant_ to," he said coldly, shooting a steely glare at the model, who picked himself up and continued to whine quietly.

The new boy's eyes flicked up to the visitors, and his mouth drew into a friendly smile. The steel in his gaze melted to be replaced by an… amicable hostility, was the nicest term Daiki could come up with for it. He stepped forward, grabbing Hyūga's hand and shaking it firmly.

"Yukio Kasamatsu, captain of the Kaijō team." he said by way of introduction. "Third-year here at Kaijō. I assume you're the captain of Seirin?"

Hyūga flashed that confident smirk of his. "Yes, that's me. Junpei Hyūga, second-year at Seirin." None of them missed the slight raise of the thick eyebrows and the fractional widening of Kasamatsu's gunmetal-blue eyes.

Kise began to whine again. "Kasamatsu! When do we get to _play_? All this boring talk is getting on my nerves–"

Kasamatsu swiftly delivered another solid roundhouse kick to the back of his head. Daiki decided he rather liked this guy.

"Now that's what Kise deserves," he said mildly, sidling over to Kasamatsu, who jumped back in surprise at his sudden appearance – having clearly not noticed him before – and shrieked.

"The hell?!" he shouted, face pale. "Where did you come from?!"

"I've been here all this time," Daiki muttered, rolling his eyes. Honestly…

"We're wasting time," Riko spoke impatiently, shifting from foot to foot. "When can we start the game?"

Kasamatsu raised an eyebrow and asked Hyūga, "Where's your coach? Has only the manager come?"

Hyūga grinned evilly. "Coach," he called to Riko, "care to introduce yourself?"

Riko grinned the same grin and shook Kasamatsu's hand. "Coach Riko Aida of Seirin. Pleased to meet you."

Kasamatsu's cheeks turned pink and he began to stammer. "I – uh – apo – pol – log-"

"You'll have to forgive him, he can't handle girls," chipped in Kise, seemingly back to his bouncy state. "Your coach is right. I can't wait to play you guys!"

Kagami gave Daiki a sceptical look and raised his eyes to heaven. _Seriously? Wasn't he all 'oh Aominecchi, your team is shit', like, three days ago?_

 _I don't know_ , Daiki shrugged in response.

"You two have that already?" Kise's incredulous voice cut through their silent communication. Daiki and Kagami broke the gaze, staring in confusion at Kise, who clarified, "That chemistry, like two romantic heroes in a movie! It took them days, Aominecchi and Ku-"

"Shut up!" Daiki shouted loudly, not wanting _that_ name to breach the air just yet. "We're not romantic heroes. Just so you know, I can't stand this guy!" He jabbed Kagami's chest roughly to prove his point.

"I can't stand him either!" Kagami shouted in response, equally belligerently.

Kise pursed his lips and stared coldly at both of them. "If you two detest each other so much, how will you _work together_ to defeat me?" he asked mockingly, emphasising the words 'work together'.

 _Defeat me. Not us._

 _Defeat_ _ **me**_ _._

Rage surged up in Daiki's chest, and he had to restrain himself from punching Kise right in that smug little face of his. What an arrogant _asshole_ –

He'd show him. He'd _show_ Kise what it was to work with someone; to set aside your differences off-court and play your best game with them; to play to someone's strengths and have them play to yours. He'd show him –

No. _They_ would show him. He and Kagami. Because that was what teamwork was – accepting the other as a part of your own unit. And whether Daiki liked it or not, he and Kagami were a pair now.

"That's not your problem," Kagami replied coolly to Kise's arrogant words and strode into the gym, head held high.

Daiki couldn't help but smirk at Kise as he passed, shoving his hands into his pockets and lazily following Kagami into Kaijō's basketball court.

* * *

Half the court.

 _Half the fucking court_.

The sounds of basketballs being tossed around echoed over the other half, separated by a net so the non-regulars could practice.

And only half the court was free for the game.

Kasamatsu and his team exchanged smirks at Seirin's furious hisses as they sat down on their bench, pulling on jerseys and shoes. Taiga could hear snickering as the non-regulars stopped their practice to point and laugh at this new school who thought they could just have a practice game with one of the high school basketball circuit's greats.

Taiga was fuming.

Was that all pretty-boy Kise and his widdle 'national-level' team thought of Seirin? That they could only afford them half the court?! Besides him, Hyūga, Riko, and the others were fuming too.

Hyūga angrily shouted, "How dare they?!"

"Relax. It's fine." Izuki said in a quiet voice. "Half the court is good enough for us to show our game."

Hyūga rounded on him. "The hell does that mean?"

Izuki exhaled. "Just... don't make a big drama about this, okay? Let's show our anger on the court. Not here. We have to come across as cool and collected, especially you."

Taiga exchanged an irritated look with Aomine. Both of them weren't here to play Gandhi. They were here to play the game, _damn it_ , and how were they expected to play without a proper court?!

As Izuki passed Taiga, he put a hand on his shoulder and murmured, "Break the hoop."

"What?" Taiga choked.

Izuki nodded. "Break it. Snap it off. You can do that, I'm pretty sure."

Taiga started to splutter. "Yeah, but didn't you just-"

"This is something that _can_ be passed off as an accident," Izuki said with a grin and went to his place.

Taiga grinned, too, already able to feel the hoop coming off in his hands.

It was going to be _so_ satisfying.

* * *

He watched quietly from the stands, brushing green hair out of his eyes, as the dark-haired boy whispered something to the brutish-looking redhead of Seirin. Pausing only to adjust his glasses, he continued to intently gaze at the two teams as they lined up, shook hands and moved into position on court.

' _How will they do against us, I wonder?'_

* * *

 **New update! Yay! It's a lot shorter but I wanted to update on Daiki's birthday! Been super busy** **Hope you all are still enjoying the story!**

 **If you got the reference of the chapter title, send it in a review! Cookies for the winners!**

 **Responding to reviews...**

 **JayMyBoy: Hyūga is a bit (a lot) of an idiot hahah! Yes, chocolate chip! And you never fail to make me laugh with the "daikon-kun" thing! Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**


	10. Two Can Play At This Game

**Chapter Ten - Two Can Play At This Game**

* * *

"Bow!"

Taiga bowed shortly, displeasure rising in his mouth at having to respect people who didn't even think they were worthy of a full court. He watched as Hyūga shook hands with Kasamatsu again – and this time it was Kasamatsu who winced. The teams got into a shamble of a position, and Taiga waited with bated breath for Mitobe and Kaijō's #8 to decide the tip-off.

Quick as light, Mitobe slapped the ball towards himself and passed it to Izuki, who then tossed it to a seemingly free spot on court.

Or not, thought Taiga smugly as a pass came rocketing his way. He grabbed the ball and leapt for a dunk.

Izuki looked up and his eyes met Taiga's briefly.

 _Now_.

Taiga pressed his wrist down even as he shoved the ball in, grabbing the hoop with both hands and swinging off it.

 _A little more, a little more –_

And then it came off in his hands, and Taiga fell with a startled yelp. Luckily, he managed to get his balance back in mid-air and landed in a crouching position.

Complete silence fell for a beat.

 _Damn, it really worked. I never would've thought… Izuki is really smart. That or he's just really petty._

Hyūga looked directly at Kasamatsu with just the barest hint of a smirk.

"I suppose we're just going to have to use the other side now." he told the third-year, who looked half-furious and half-impressed. "You might want to check the quality of your hoops."

"I assure you, Kaijō has the best quality equipment," Kasamatsu replied tightly. "Hoops aren't designed for players to hang off them for a full minute. But that was certainly a feat. Your power forward is quite the strongarm."

Taiga grinned to himself. He wasn't even surprised when a hand clapped on his back and a familiar voice said, "That was pretty rad."

Actually, scratch that. Taiga _was_ surprised at praise from Daiki Aomine, of all the people.

But it was a little worrying that he wasn't scared when Aomine randomly popped up. Was he… getting used to it?! Gods forbid!

"You? Praising me?" he jibed back, just to get his mind off this earth-shattering revelation.

Aomine rolled his ocean eyes. "Don't get used to it."

Taiga nodded and gave him a quick smile. "Noted." It wouldn't do to be overly mean to Aomine today – Kise was here, and he was an asshole. Taiga wouldn't put it past him to hurt Aomine in underhanded ways.

Luckily, he was there to stop that – wait, _what_?! Why was he feeling so protective over that stupid blueberry-brained fool?!

Taiga shook his head, face now as red as his hair, and ran to help pull down the nets that divided the court in two (and maybe rip it in a few places. It was Aomine's idea, okay?!).

And then, _finally_ , the game began in earnest.

Mitobe faced off against Kaijō's #8 once more, but this time the opponent was faster, grabbing the ball and passing it to Kise, who scored instantly. Kaijō cheered in unison, and all of Seirin gritted their teeth.

So excited about a single point… well, let's see how you do against this! Taiga thought, racing to the hoop. Kise tailed him, and he leapt without ball in hand, trusting it to come to him.

Aomine didn't fail to deliver. The ball zoomed powerfully under the hoop from seemingly nowhere. Taiga grabbed it and dunked, letting go of the hoop quickly. If he broke this one too, it would be, as his mother often said in her colloquial Indian English, 'gone case'.

The next pass came from over his head. Taiga scowled in the general direction of the ball as he passed to Hyūga, who shot before Kasamatsu could perform a steal.

Then Aomine was at his shoulder, muttering, "Rely on me for everything."

Taiga frowned. What? Rely on Aomine for everything?

"What does that even mean?" he hissed back.

"I'm Kise's weak spot. No see, no copy," Aomine explained tersely. "Now go, I'll get the ball to you. I'm pushing myself here, so no complaints!"

Taiga glanced back at Aomine; the boy's face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. His posture was folded slightly inwards, too.

 _Shit…_ was all he could think. _That's not good…_

His eyes flicked to the scoreboard. 30 – 29 in favour of Kaijō.

The whistle blew harshly to signify the end of the first quarter, and Taiga sighed.

Great. One-fourth of our time down, and Aomine's tiring already.

 _He better be right, because if he doesn't follow through on me relying on him, we're done for._

* * *

Daiki wiped his face with the wet towel, relishing the cold sensation. It awakened his nerves and brought back most of his stamina.

That was one thing he liked about himself; he got his energy back quickly. Though he lost it at an almost equal rate, but that wasn't the point.

He looked upwards at the stands; maybe Satsuki was here. That girl did have an uncanny capability for getting information from some rather shady sources. But no – no pink was to be spotted there today.

However, a mop of neat green hair caught the edge of Daiki's vision, and he turned apprehensively, hoping with every fibre of his being that it was not who he thought it was.

And of course, that stupid daikon had to be here. Although outfitted in that black he really did look more like a broccoli…

Daiki shook his head like a dog shaking off water. He couldn't afford to daydream now; he had to get back into his match mode.

His focus snapped to the court once more and he jogged onto it, dropping his towel onto the bench. He got into position behind Kagami and crouched down, ready for the ball.

The whistle blew and time stopped as Daiki threw himself into his role of the supporting character, adrenaline rushing in his veins with every successful pass.

Then they hit him. The sweet memories of all the best passes back in middle school… how satisfying it was to connect… how amazing it felt when someone was relying on you and trusted you and _wanted_ you…

 _This is how basketball should feel like._ Daiki thought vehemently, slapping the ball towards Mitobe, who scored quickly.

 _And that's what I'm going to teach them all._

* * *

The woman – or as Kizami liked to call her, the devil – entered the room with a click-clack of impatient heels against the floor, tossing her hair back as she did.

"Mr. Shibuya!" she shrilled. "How much progress have you made?!"

The frail blue-haired man at the end of the table shook his head. "He won't respond to anything. I've tried his sisters too. But you must understand – they will not trust me so easily."

Kizami sighed a little. Saotome was such a rat. What he'd done to his family was frankly despicable.

But then, wasn't he the same? Ready to do this to his own nephew for a chance at his brother's fortune?

The devil sniffed. "Whatever. Just, get it done before the Winter Cup. How about you, Kizami?"

Kizami winced at the familiarity with which she said his name, but nodded slightly. "It didn't take much work. The boy trusts me even in his… changed state."

He said it with a little more than a bit of distaste. His nephew's new attitude wasn't exactly fun to be around. Though, he'd always had a soft spot for his uncle, so that was easy enough to exploit.

"And you, Kazuko?"

The dark-haired girl didn't flinch.

"Same as Mr. Big Shot over there." she responded, jerking her head towards Kizami, who scowled in her direction. Kazuko was the most annoying woman he'd ever had the misfortune to meet, save the devil before them. "My kid brother is a fucking idiot. He'll believe anything I tell him."

The devil's mouth curled up into a smile. "Well then. Isn't that just wonderful."

Kazuko laughed, and then stated what neither Kizami nor Saotome had the balls to say.

"Why do I get the feeling you don't find that wonderful at all?"

* * *

53 – 50, in favour of Seirin. Riko smiled a little to herself, but quickly tamed her excitement. It wouldn't do to count her chickens before they were hatched; a three-point lead was nothing in basketball.

Kise dunked and evened the score a little more bringing Kaijō up to one point behind. Hyūga retaliated instantly, a pass from Aomine landing in his hands just perfectly to make the best three-pointer he'd shot all day.

Good, that brought them up to a four-point lead. Which… actually wasn't too bad since Seirin was a rookie school.

Still. It was an easy-to-overcome lead, and Seirin had to up the ante.

Unfortunately, Aomine looked like he was about to collapse.

Riko's gaze had been locked onto him and she'd been focusing, so she'd seen him for the entirety of the match. And as it seemed to go on, he seemed to tire more.

Could it be that Aomine had limited stamina levels?

Damn it! Riko cursed first Aomine himself for not telling her about this weakness of his, then herself for not figuring it out, or hell, asking him for his limitations!

The whistle blew for halftime, and Riko checked over everything her boys needed. Towels, water bottles, spare jerseys in case they wanted to change.

They had all looked so relieved when she'd told them that there would be no lemons. Honestly. She knew she was a horrible cook, but they could at least pretend!

She gestured to the towels as the team trooped off court, and beckoned Aomine over.

"What's up with you?" Riko demanded.

Aomine shrugged. "Today, I don't seem to have enough stamina for a full game. I regain energy fast, so I thought it'd be okay, 'cause it usually is."

"But it wasn't," Riko finished with a tired sigh. Did _all_ of them have to be idiots?

"All right," she decided, clapping once to get her team's attention. They all gathered around curiously, waiting for her to give the orders.

"We bench Aomine the next quarter and keep going as we have. I have no doubt we're equally good as Kaijō!"

They all nodded and assented firmly, and Riko found herself smiling at her team.

They were the stupidest, and she loved them.

* * *

 **What was your favourite part of this chapter? For me, I loved writing Kagami and Izuki being a little petty. Tell me in a review, I love comments! :3**

 **I over-praise Izuki and I will continue to do so because he is my child and he does not get nearly enough love!**

 **And, I hope the romance isn't taking over the story ;w; AoKaga is endgame but honestly it's just sticking Daiki in Kuroko's place and seeing how he reacts to stuff. Wow, I really am a scientist, huh XD**

 **Responding to the reviews:**  
 **JayMyBoy: DAIKON KUUUNNNNNN RETURNNSSSS! II hop you liked the chapter XD Your review means so much to me so it's really okay! You always comment on this story and I always get excited to see what you thought. :3**

 **Mitobe's reaction to your question: ｡ﾟ･ (﹏) ･ﾟ｡**

 **Koganei: He says he's sorry for scaring you!**


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